Dark Legion
by magistrate
Summary: A year after Ultimecia's defeat the world is anything but tranquil. A new enemy rises in the world, one who will challenge history's victors, blur the lines of ally and enemyand prove relentless in his conquest, boundless in his thirst for vengeance.
1. Dream

**( Author's Note: **Dark Legion has been edited on 29th July, 2005, so that all chapter-heading epigraphs are weither fabricated or in the public domain. Some polishing had been done on the body of the work itself; these edits are minor and don't affect plot or anything like that. As always, to keep up to date on my update-to-update scheming, read my bio or my LiveJournal. magistrate**)  
**

**/---DARK LEGION---\**  
--PART ONE--

I

_"We dream because we dream more gently than we live. We dream because we do not wish to wake."  
--Shumi Elder, remark to a protege  
_

_

* * *

_

_"--NO!"_

The only thing about the dream Squall Leonhart remembered was that he woke up screaming. Which was odd, because in the his eighteen years of life, he had never doen so before. Tremblign in his surprise, all he could do was breathe and observe the world..

The lamps had come on automatically in the presence of sound, and the gunblade case in the corner of his room glinted reassuringly in the artificial light. The gunblade helped to calm Squall's stoic mind, to chase away the unreasoning fear that had gripped him. It was something familiar, concrete. Something he recognized.

Sliding out of his bed, Squall moved to the window next to the headboard. The moutainscape of the tiny Balamb continent showed through the dark light of false dawn, and the red beak of the spaceship Ragnarok loomed to his left. To look, everything seemed perfectly normal--there was nothing amiss. Squall shook his head. He wouldn't be getting back to sleep, he knew, which meant at this hour that there was about one thing in Garden that he could do.

Squall pulled the drapes over the window and turned away, pulling his old leather-and-fur jacket off the wall. Unlatching the case and opening it, he withdrew the fortified Revolver Advanced model from its cusion of black velvet and put on the swordbelt and scabbard. Placing the weapon by his side, he pulled on the jacket and exited into the hall.

Garden was quiet at this time, nestled in the grey haze just before the dawn. SeeDs slept, anticipating the day which would bring with it adventure or danger, hope or fear, routine or exception. Air, pushed and drawn by giant fans, moved furtively around the corridors, sneaking on a thousand feather-light wings. It was peaceful--but somehow incomplete, empty and longing. It spoke to emotions he didn't know how to name--emotions he so often ignored.

"Squall?" asked a sleepy voice from a couple doors down, halting him as he walked. Squall turned to see Quistis Trepe, a year his senior and his former instructor, moving down the hall towards him, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. "I thought I heard you yell. Is something wrong?"

"Not really," Squall said gruffly. "I couldn't sleep."

"Oh," Quistis said. "Bad dreams?"

Squall raised an eyebrow, and chose not to answer.

"I take it Rinoa hasn't gotten back from Deling City yet?" Quistis asked, nodding as Squall shook his head. "You should take a break too, Squall. I'm sure you need one. I hear the Shumis have started a statue of you; I'm sure they'd be honored to have you drop in."

Squall suppressed a shudder at the thought of cold, icy Trabia, and shook his head. "No time. I have too much stuff to do."

"Administrative duties and other dry work," Quistis said, a fond smile creeping onto her face. "Get Xu to take care of it. All work and no play makes Squall a dull boy."

Squall's hand moved to his forehead, two fingers sliding up along his temple as a mute gesture of mock-exasperation. "Think the Shumis will fix that?"

Quistis chuckled. "I suppose not," she conceded.

Squall nodded, and turned to walk away.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Training Center," Squall responded.

"Watch out," Quistis warned, sounding matter-of-fact rather than concerned. "They've moved new monsters in. They took all the Grats out, and-"

"I know," Squall said, glancing back. The tiniest flicker of amusement flashed in his eyes before he masked it. "I signed the order."

Quistis smiled as he left, shaking her head. _(Rinoa's been good for him,)_ she thought, watching him go. Though by no means the most outgoing person in Garden, Squall had become much less... _caged_ since he had met Timber's self-styled "princess." Of course, _much less caged_ was a relative term--anyone meetign him now still thought him excessively closed off and curt, blunt and tactless to the point of inconsideration. But on occasion Quistis could detect a flash of emotion behind those enigmatic eyes-- the tiniest hint of what was going on inside his mind. Squall had spent years building up emotional defenses, and it would take far more than a year for his friends or him to break them.

Quistis debated going back to her room, getting her chain whip, and following him, but she decided against it. If she knew Squall at all, which she was fairly certain she did, he would want to be alone. It was the least she could do to respect those wishes--once in a while.

-

Squall moved through the halls, past the Garden faculty members who barred all the side halls except those leading to the dorms and the training center. Each one nodded to him as he passed--normal rules and regulations didn't tend to apply when Squall Leonhart, Commander of the mobile Balamb Garden and the Spaceship Ragnarok was involved. The privilege frequently proved itself useful--though, at times, Squall wasn't quite sure he liked the distinction.

Moving down the spur corridor and into the Training Center entrance, Squall took a moment to ask the Guardian Force Brothers to bolster his endurance before he moved in, pulled out his gunblade, and steeled himself for the new medley of creatures waiting in their cultivated jungle.

Stepping past the vault-metal door into the Training Center proper, he took a look around before making his way over to the bridge. The air warmed uncomfortably as he stepped onto the treated wood planks, and Squall wiped a sudden line of sweat off his forehead. _Fire-elemental,_ he identified. _Near by, too..._

A flash of movement from his right brought him up to a fighting stance, snaring the point of the gunblade in a Bomb's armpit. The Bomb--bloated and burning, lines of smoke tracing its way from its spherical form and its coal-dark eyes--gibbered at Squall and sent a furnace-blast of fire towards him. Staggering to avoid the scorching heat, Squall took another swing at the elemental, sending a freezing Blizzard wind along the gunblade's length in reciprocation. The Bomb shuddered and fell, disintegrating into ash as it hit the surface of the running water beneatht he bridge. The aura of heat that had surrounded it vanished, to be replaced by the too-cool Garden air conditioning. Squall sent a command to the GF Diablos to make sure nothing attacked him, wincing at the twinge of dark joy Diablos felt as he made his consent known. The odd emotion faded, the air shuddered around him, invisible shadows creeping along the length of his arms, wrapping around his chest, clouding behind his eyes and shielding him from sight, from scent. _It is done_, murmured a silty voice.

Squall bent down to the side of the bridge, reached into the freezing water, and splashed it over his face. Closing his eyes as the streamwater cascaded over him, he shook his head vigorously and snorted.

_(Spending any time with a sentient creature trapped inside your brain can be--interesting, to say the least,_) he reflected, and winced. _(Unnerving, more like.)_

A spray of water hit him, and his eyes snapped open. Looking down into the stream, he caught a flash of silver--a sleek form moved downward, glinting as it swam. It seemed to shrink as it went, as if the meter-deep stream was a river deep enough for the serpent to dive far enough to be lost from sight. In moments, it was gone.

Squall had to blink several times before he could convince himself of what he had seen. The only thing he knew of that looked even remotely like the apparition was another GF--the Great Serpent, Leviathan. But Leviathan spent almost all his time in noncorporeal form, junctioned to Zell to help in times of battle. And even when he was summoned, he _didn't_ stick around long enough to go swimming in the Garden training facilities.

As all of this began to arrange itself in Squall's mind, he rose. It was night--not the best time to be hunting down mysteries. It could have been a fluke, a trick of the light, a new monster--

--he didn't think so. There was a rogue GF in Garden.

He was at Zell's door before he had given any thought to the questions he wanted answered. _(He's probably asleep,)_ he realized--not that it made any differenct, at the moment. Raising one hand, he pounded on the door.

The door flew open about three seconds after the first knock, suggesting Zell had in fact already been up. The flushed quality to Zell's tattooed face and the quivering punching bag in the corner confirmed it.

"Hey, no need to kill the door, Squall," Zell said, customary grin plastered firmly on his face. "What happened? You're kinda soaked..."

"Where's Leviathan?" Squall demanded, eliciting a confused look from Zell. Zell's eyes lost their focus, sight turning inward as he ran over the magic at the back of his mind.

"Same place he always is," he said at length, tapping his head. "Why? This some kind of trick question?"

Squall just stood there, dripping and thinking. "I just saw Leviathan in the training facility," he said. "About a minute ago."

Zell reached out a gloved, studded hand and put it on Squall's shoulder. "You need more sleep, man," he said, feigning deathly seriousness. Then he laughed.

Squall pushed his arm away, turned, and moved back into the hall. Zell jogged after him, grinning.

"Hey, no need to get ticked," he said. "Why do you think you saw Leviathan?"

_(Because it was the right shape, color, and it disappeared like no normal monster can do,)_ Squall thought. "Never mind," he said.

Zell shrugged. "Fine. Got it. Squall doesn't want to talk about it. Well, come back when you think I can help," Zell said. With that, he turned on his heel and went back to hammering the punching bag.

_(Maybe I do just need more sleep,)_ Squall thought as he turned to head back to his room. Somehow, though, he knew it wasn't the truth.


	2. Justified Fears

II

_"This is caution. Paranoia is when you're wrong."  
--Strategist Chelser Eigher, early Sorceress War_

* * *

_"Will Commander Leonhart please come to the Bridge,"_ rang a voice over the intercom, flowing from the ceiling speakers and reverbrating theough the halls. _"Repeat, Commander Leonhart to the bridge."_

Squall had already been on his way. He stepped out of the elevator, through the ornate glass doorway into what had once been Headmaster Cid's office. The platform leading up to the control console was waiting for him, and he stepped on and toed the pressure panel. _(I have yet to remind them to install some handrails,)_ he thought as the platform jolted, forcing him to make minute adjustments to his balance. Aside from the initial jerk, however, the platform rose smoothly. He stepped off the elevator onto the tiny, de-facto bridge, glancing at Quistis and Xu before turning to the pilot, Nida.

"I thought I assigned you to the Ragnarok," Squall said. Nida shrugged.

"Nobody's using the Ragnarok, sir."

Xu cleared her throat, trying to catch Squall's attention. Squall turned to face her, expression nonexistent. Her face was unusually grave.

"We have a request for SeeD," Xu said, holding up a hand to forestal any questions, "A request made for the Sorceress Team specifically."

"By who?" Squall asked.

Xu's expression darkened imperceptibly. "General Caraway of Deling City," she said. She was about to elaborate but, casting a glance at Quistis, she paused.

_(...Rinoa's father,_) Squall thought. _(Why would he need to hire SeeD?)_ "Did he say why?" he asked.

"That's the thing," Xu said uneasily. "...it seems someone's kidnapped his daughter."

"What?" Squall snapped almost at once. _(Rinoa--kidnapped? How? ...**why**?)_ "_Why_?"

"Nothing's been confirmed," Xu said. "From what I can gather we have only very sketchy information; however, General Caraway wanted to speak to you in person. He may be able to give you a more detailed report. Can I assume you'll be taking the mission?"

"Of course," Squall said, trying to shake the feeling that someone had poleaxed him.

"You had better get the team ready," Xu said. "If you leave now, you might be able to get a jump on... whatever evidence is still present."

Squall nodded. Moving over to the intercom, he pulled out the mic and pressed the tiny red button on the side. "Zell, Selphie, Irvine, report to the Ragnarok," he ordered. He was about to add _Immediately!_, but he was interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. Quistis's hand was a gentle pressure, her eyes reflecting concern.

_(I know how you must feel,)_ the look said. _(We'll get Rinoa back.)_

Squall replaced the mic, beckoning for her and Nida to follow him as he stepped onto the elevator platform. It sunk to the floor below rapidly--though not _quite_ fast enough for Squall's tastes. It seemed like wasted time to go down to the second floor, and out to the deck.

The dragonship loomed above the deck-turned-dock, burnished hands tucked beneath strong grappling arms, pointed head thrusting from moulded shoulders. Its eyes, complex sensors, flicked over everything in a complex sequence--everything was recorded and analyzed, everything was watched. Ragnarok never slept.

The ramp was already down, grey stairs leading up into the sterile hangar.

Zell and Selphie came running out the door just as Squall got halfway up the ramp, and Squall turned to watch them as they called for him to wait.

"Yo, Squall!" Zell said, rushing to the base of the ramp and looking up at his friend. "What's going on?"

"I'll explain on the way," Squall said, hiking a thumb at the vessel. He turned and moved up the ramp into the ship, heading toward the bridge. It was a remarkable design--able to traverse the globe with almost nonexistant effort on the behalf of anyone except the pilot. A year and a half ago, having free liscence on an Estharan warship would have rated just below his sudden and utter conversion to Jangoism on the probability scale. But time had a way of changing things in the weirdest of ways...

_...he had stepped into the Lunar Gate, casting a glance back at the Ragnarok and wondering how in the names of seven Grandidan Hells_ _was he going to get back if he didn't have it? He was especially not looking forward to a walk back across the intercontinental railroad that had brought him there, now that he was no longer driven by concern for Rinoa--  
He had asked the highest-ranking official there if they wanted to claim it--mainly because it could, after all, be called stolen property. The official had snorted indignantly, shaking his head.  
"Of course not," he had replied, using much the same tone Squall would have expected if he had asked whether the Estharan Military still used zeppelins. "The thing is twenty years out of date," the man scoffed. "It's hardly worth scrapping for parts. Why do you think we sent it out with Adel's tomb in the first place?"  
On that day, he had gained a much__ greater respect for Eshtharan technology._

"Hey," Irvine called as Squall stepped inside, startling him.

"How did you get here so fast?" Squall demanded.

Irvine shrugged. "Sefie wanted me to fix one of the chairs in the conference room earlier, so--"

"Whatever," Squall snapped, pushing past him without bothering to hear the rest of the answer. "Everyone, meet on the bridge. We have a new mission."

"What?" asked Zell. "Finally! Been too long!"

"Zell," Quistis said softly, pulling him to one side as the rest got onto the lift that would carry them to the bridge. The pressure-sensitive panel in the center automatically rose when Squall stepped on it, just another reminder that even 21-year-old Esthar technology was much better than anything anyone else had at current.

Squall stepped off the lift into the bridge, glancing out the window impatiently as Nida stepped into the copilot's chair and Selphie vaulted into the pilot's seat. "Where're we going?" she asked cheerfully as the lift dropped behind them.

"Deling City," Squall said, refraining from adding _as fast as this thing can fly._

"Woo-HOO!" Selphie yelled, making both Irvine and Squall wince. "We're flying again!"

The thought occured to Squall that it might not be the best idea to let her into the air again after an entire year of being out of practice, but a sharp series of jerks, a muffled _thud_ from beneath as the ladder retracted, and the gentle roar of the engines told him in no uncertain terms that it was too late to stop her.

The lift rose again with Quistis and Zell, Zell looking a bit abashed. He opened his mouth to say something, but the look on Squall's face stopped him.

"So what's the mission?" Selphie asked, a bit too enthusiastically.

"She's gone," Squall said. A deathly silence fell across the room.

Irvine, with the distinct feeling he was missing something, looked from Selphie, turned around in her seat, to Zell's grim face, to Nida's grimmer one, to Quistis's worried frown, and finally to Squall's set, determined look.

"Who? Who's gone?" he asked, confused. Everyone turned to stare at him.

"Rinoa," Squall clarified. "We're on our way to Deling City to meet with her father, General Caraway. He believes she may have been kidnapped."

Irvine's mouth formed a silent "o," and he nodded.

"_SELPHIE_!" Zell yelped, staring out the cockpit's front window. Selphie spun , grabbed the controls, and yanked back--resulting in that the ship barely managed to clear the Balamb Mountain range, coming perilously close to having the lower engines ripped off. The sudden change in angle sent almost everyone on the bridge sliding back into the lift which, reading a sudden increase in weight on the pad, dropped almost immediately. Squall had grabbed onto a chair at Zell's outburst, and was thus the only one still left on the bridge besides Selphie and Nida. His hand found its way to his forehead as the ship righted itself, and the fist pangs of a headache lanced though his brain.

_(Only **my** team,)_ he thought. He always caught himself marvelling at the apparent incompetence which they could display--until the pressure came down, and the options began to thin. They could run great guns when it mattered--the campaigns a year ago had proved that.

One year ago they had fought the now-historic battle with Ultimecia, the Sorceress from the future trying to create a universe of compressed time in which only she could exist. Their plan had been ludicrous--let her go along with her plan until they could reach her in the future to initiate the final showdown--and the final showdown had come very close to being "final" in a way that nobody except Ultimecia would have wanted. But they had _won_. With their GF's split amongst the party so that no one would be unarmed, each had been considerably weaker than they would have been in a normal battle. Squall had seen his friends fall around him, be revived by the paramagical Phoenix Downs and Life and Full-Life spells, only to fall again countless times. At times when they lay for too long without treatment, he had watched them dissolve into time until he and Rinoa had been the only ones left to deliver the final blow.

Squall had been almost ready to believe that there was no hope--he was weakening fast, they were both out of curative magic--and nearly all _other_ kinds of magic--Ultimecia's third incarnation seemed not only unhurt but invulnerable. They had run out of the powerful Ultima, Meteor, Flare, and Meltdown spells, and they had to resort to using Firaga, Water, Tornado, and whatever other magic she hadn't blown away. It would have been over if one of them had died, Squall guessed--there was only one way to exist in the future, in a time when existence was technically impossible.

_"Believe in your friend's existence, and they'll also believe in yours,"_ President Laguna Loire of Esthar had said before sending them off on what should have been a suicide mission into the future. And if what he had said _was_ the only way to survive in the future, it would have been a feat impossible to perform with one person.

It had come as a a relief when he had seen everyone again when he returned to his own time. Although he would never admit it, Squall had been deeply shaken by the battle. In the final moments, he could see the universe compressing around him, drawn into the exonatural monstrosity Ultimecia had become. How could someone _not_ be shaken? He had witnessed firsthand the nightmare of the universe dying around him.

Even after the campaign had ended, the victory celebrated, he had found himself relying on his friends more and more. He had actually _missed_ Rinoa when she went to work things out with her father--missed her more than he had expected to, and had been more grateful than ever to have his friends' presence around him. In the year before, he woudl have called it a weakening, a lapse--now, he had come to regard it as at attribute, and a strength.

Though there were days...

He only felt a _mild_ annoyance at his team as they stepped off the lift. Instead of saying anything to them, however, he simply moved past them onto the platform and waited impatiently as it sunk. He headed to the hangar, one place he knew he wouldn't be disturbed. He had a lot on his mind, and he needed to think it through. Although, he had the sneaking suspision that thinking about it wouldn't help a great deal. It never had before, anyway.


	3. Battle Plans

III  
_"Most battle plans do not survive the initial encounter with the enemy."  
--Truism_

_

* * *

_

Deling City sported nothing remotely like a landing field--probably because no one outside of Squall and Esthar had ever had an airship. As a result the Ragnarok was forced to land on uneven ground a fair distance from the city, its smooth descent and not _overly_ turbulent landing a tribute to its pilots' prowess. Nida stayed behind to watch over the ship, but the Sorceress Team came with Squall as he entered the city and stepped onto the public bus to Caraway's Mansion. The entire group was grim. Though not one of Selphie's "orphanage gang," the group who had lived through their childhood in Cid and Edea's orphanage only to forget the time, rediscovering it only gradually, Rinoa was considered by all to be a very close friend. It had just taken Squall a bit longer than the rest to admit it.

Hitting the button to stop the bus in front of Caraway's mansion, they nodded to the guard at the gate and moved by unchallenged. They were well-know around Deling City, to say the least; their infamous attempt to assassinate the sorceress a year ago was still the butt of many jokes and had rapidly become an urban legend, though their subsequent saving of the universe had granted them nearly universal pardon. As he walked up to meet General Caraway, Squall couldn't help but be reminded of the one time he had done so before--to receive the mission briefing for the assassination. He was also forced to remembered it had been an unmitigated disaster, one leading to nearly the entire team's incarceration in a political prison somewhere in Galbadia's Dingo Desert. It was an episode in his life he really didn't have any fond memories of.

Of course, there were very few fond memories he had at all...

Another guard opened the door for the group, and they stepped in to see General Caraway in full dress uniform, sitting in the large table in the living room and apparently playing a game of cards--Triple Triad--with himself. As he neared, Squall was surprised to see a card with Rinoa on it--it must have cost a fair amount to get it registered with the Card Queen.

Caraway was not a sentimental man.They had never had much contact, but Squall had respected him for that--if disliking him for a host of other reasons. It was strange to see him with something so personal as a card of his daughter.

"My next logical move would be," Caraway muttered to himself, placing a card down above Rinoa's and turning hers over. "...damn," he sighed. "Lost her."

The guard who had let the group in cleared his throat, and Caraway looked up.

"Ah," he said, regaining his composure at once. "I'm glad you're here. Please, have a seat."

Everyone moved to sit down, Quistis sitting on the couch next to Squall so she could place a discreet hand on his shoulder. Squall shrugged it off.

"I'll get straight to the point," Caraway said. "Rinoa went missing three days ago. We were nearby the Arch, when it started raining. Everything got very dark, very wet, _very_ quickly. I doubt this could have been natural.  
"We were begining to head back here when I heard a scream, behind me. I looked around, and Rinoa was nowhere to be seen. We were in a clear area with no obstructions; I _should_ have been able to see her. The city police and I began the investigation immediately, but it soon became apparent that she was _not_ inside the city. We searched the surrounding grasslands, but she was not to be found. We have no idea where she is. Needless to say--we suspect foul play."

Caraway's voice was strained as he spoke, and he finished the breifing as quickly as he could. Squall frowned--it didn't fit the profile of any other kidnapping he knew of, and it didn't seem like this would be any sort of canon case.

"That's not much to work with," Irvine said, casting a sidelong glance at Squall. Caraway shook his head.

"I'm sorry that we can't provide you with more information, but that's why I called you in. We cannot find her anywhere. There _are_ no clues. But," Caraway said, standing up, "if anyone can find her, I'm sure you can."

That said, he turned and left the room. There was silence for a moment

"That was it?" Zell demanded. "What are we supposed to do with _that?"_

"Find Rinoa," Squall answered, deadpan.

"You have _got_ to be kidding, man!" Zell said. "What are we supposed to do--fly around the world in the Ragnarok and look for her out the window?"

_(If that's what's necessary,)_ Squall thought. "Giving up on her?"

"What?" Zell said, jumping. "Hey, no, man, I didn't mean--"

"We'll find her," Squall said. "We're SeeDs. We can't back out of a mission."

"Tch!" Zell said. "Fine. Whatever it takes, you know?" He turned and moved for the exit.

Squall followed him, trying to think of where they should start. He had heard of missions like this before, where the clues might well be spread out amongst many people throughout the entire world, but he really didn't want to have to question the entire population of the planet just to find a lead. That would take too much time--and besides, Squall had never been the social type.

Halting outside the door, he noticed the guard changing. one of the men was heading into the house, as a second approached from the street. Waiting as the rest of his team filed out, he nodded amiably to the man coming toward him before addressing his team. "I think we should--"

There was a warping sound, unmistakably paramagical. The world shifted and crawled, the air sparked darkness that set Squall's teeth on edge.

"Squall! _Squall! Irvy! Yaaa---!"_

Squall's hand went to his gunblade without hesitation, without need for thought. He turned and ran back into the mansion, just in time to see Selphie's body distort and twist inside the dark black bubble that encased her. A similar bubble was fading from the air beside her, and the guard who had just entered the mansion was gone. It looked for all the world as if someone had cast a doubled Demi spell, except that when the bubble expanded and disappeared again, Selphie disappeared with it.

The door to the rest of the mansion creaked as General Caraway burst back into the room, but no one spoke. Amid the silence, Selphie's nunchaku clattered to the ground.


	4. Partial Truth

IV

_"There are only so many possible answers. Odds are **one** of them has to be correct."  
--Instructor Aki  
_

_

* * *

_

"Sefie is gone," Irvine said. "First Rinoa, now Sefie. What's going _on?_"

"You've been asking that for the past hour," Zell growled. Slamming a fist down on the soft seat arm, he snapped "Dammit! Where'd Squall go, anyway?"

"He's in the hangar," Quistis said. "Using his superior deductive skills, I hope."

"_Squall_'s the one with superior deductive skills?" Irvine asked.

Zell and Quistis ignored him.

Zell hit the chair again, mood not improving. Irvine held Selphie's nunchaku next to his shotgun, turning it over in his hands.

"I think I hate this," he said. "Both of them just _gone_--this city _has_ to be cursed or _something."  
_

"Think it's significant?" Quistis asked. "I mean, that--"

The door to the conference room/passenger seat slid open, and Squall stepped in. "We have one clue. Both occurred in this city," he continued, motioning out the window at the Galbadian capitol. "What's special about Deling City?"

"We tried to kill the Sorceress," Quistis volunteered.

"Ultimecia is dead, and Edea isn't a sorceress anymore," Squall said. "Anything else?"

"The Tomb of the Unknown King is just outside," Zell mentioned with a shudder. They had almost gotten lost in the labrynthine tomb, wandering until Squall had finally discovered the secret of navigating through: taking all right or all left turns around the center until you faced it, then turning and going directly forward away from it until you got to one of the points. The only thing they had gotten out of it was the help of the GF Brothers, the ID number of a dead student (not fortunate enough to have Squall's deductive skills on his side), and a rather cryptic message from the ghost of the King.

"We saw the King's ghost. He didn't seem to be have any malicious intent, and we have no reason to assume that's changed. We have Sacred and Minotaur, the Brothers. Other than that, the only things in there are Armadodos and Blobras, and neither of them are smart enough to orchestrate something like this."

Silence. Then Irvine jumped up, exclaiming "I've got it!"

"What?" Squall asked.

"That spell--it looked like Demi, right?"

"Yes," Squall said, unsure of where Irvine was heading.

"So, that's gravity-based, right?"

"Yes--"

"And _so is Diablos!"_

Squall completely missed the point. "So?"

"Diablos is sentient," Irvine said. "We've heard him speak Standard English, too. So--"

"So--oh!" Quistis's eyes lit up. "You've hit it!"

"...right," Squall said, catching on before Irvine had a chance to say anything further. _(Sure. Of course, it's not like we've ever ** tried**__ something like this before, but if that's the **only** unprecedented thing on this mission..._) he mused darkly. Closing his eyes, he focused on the back-and-red netherworld GF, focused on summoning him before them and at the same time focused on not fading into the summon as the Guardian Force arrived. There was the usual vertigo of summoning as Diablos faded into the Ragnarok's conference room, placing both feet on the ground as there was no room to fly. Massive wings folded behind him as he looked around.

_(...if this is the strangest thing I ever do, I'll swallow my gunblade without sauce,)_ Squall thought.

"My defeators," Diablos breathed, voice thin and sibilant. His eyes reflected danger--but not animosity.

"We need a favor," Irvine said.

"I bow to your wishes," Diablos replied.

"We need you to trace a Demi spell..." Irvine continued.

"A trivial matter. I know of whiat you speak."

"So... will you?"

Diablos nodded, and held out a hand, palm out. Darkness gathered before his palm, palpable and tactile, expanding and contracting, pulsing weirdly. An image formed inside it: the living room at Caraway's mansion. Squall could see himself leaving the room following Zell, see Irvine exchanging a few words with the guard, and then darkness exploded into the scene, warping and distending, wrapping itself around Selphie like a strikign beast. Instead of just seeing the Demi spell as they had, though, they were sucked in--they went through the black void and into a vast darkness beyond. Then the bubble in front of Diablos's hand dimmed, and suddenly rebounded on the GF with all the force to send him flying into a wall. "It leads nowhere," he said, just as the demonic light in his eyes faded and his massive head lolled to one side.

"Diablos?" Squall asked. Then, louder, "Diablos!"

The GF faded, and finally disappeared into a flash of darkness. Squall looked at Quistis and Irvine, who each shook their heads.

"What just happened?" Zell asked.

_(A very good question, Zell,)_ Squall thought. _(I was wondering the same thing myself._) "We're going to the orphanage," he said.

"Why?" Irvine asked.

"Diablos came from a magic lamp that Cid gave us. I want to know where he got it. Right now, what happened to Diablos is our only lead."

"All right," Irvine said. Hitting the button to call the bridge, he said "Nida, set a course for the Cape of Good Hope."

"Why not?" came the reply, and the Ragnarok smoothly took off.

_(I want answers,)_ Squall thought, looking over the group in the passenger seat. Turning wordlessly, he headed for the door.

-

The Ragnarok set down near the orphanage with a smoothness that was frankly impeccable, a fact Squall attributed to Nida's taking his responsibility as a pilot much more seriously than Selphie tended to. Squall, Quistis, and Zell stepped out, looking at the crumbling ruins with expressions ranging from nostalgia to indifference. Moss grew on the ancient, falling pillars, turning the entire orphanage into a set of greygreen-tinged ruins that would soon be reclaimed by the wilderness around them. It was a poignant reminder of how old the place was--and of how long they had been away.

Crossing the short distance between the spaceship and the crumbling, run-down orphanage, Squall fingered his gunblade nervously. Stepping between the crumbling pillars of stone into the main building, he was hit with a sudden sense of deja vu. Knocking on the door, he waited as the former Garden Headmaster--Cid Kramer--opened the door. Cid grinned widely as he saw the three, clasping each of their hands warmly and ushering them inside.

"It's good to see you," he said. "It's been too long! I hear you're doing well as Commander. I say--have you grown?"

"...whatever," Squall replied, ear not following what he identified immediately as a tangent. "...Cid, do you remember the magic lamp that you gave us?"

Cid's brow furrowed as he thought, obviously coming up empty.

"The one with Diablos in it?" Squall prompted.

Cid nodded, brightening. "Ah, _that_ one. Yes, I'm glad you got some use out of it," he said.

"Where did you get it?" Squall asked.

"Oh... that would be..." Cid thought for a bit. "I nice man gave it to me... a Mr. Dobe, from Fisherman's Horizon. He said it contained a GF, and that since GFs were only used in battle he didn't want it anywhere near his city. One of his fishermen had found it ensnared in a reef offshore. Why?"

"There's something wrong with Diablos," Squall said, glancing at Irvine. Irvine had taken over junctioning Diablos, and was trying to figure out what was wrong with the GF. Needless to say, he wasn't getting anywhere. "We plan to investigate where he was found, in order try to find some answers."

"Oh," Cid said. "Always on assignment, I see." He smiled, shaking his head. "Well, good luck. It was nice seeing you again, Squall."

"Thank you," Squall said, turning to leave.

-

Fisherman's Horizon, a city in the middle of the huge intercontinental railroad, was situated deep in the sea. The large solar panel that provided the city power was an ideal spot for landing the Ragnarok, and it was conveniently near the Mayor's house at the center of the dish. Fisherman's Horizon--FH to its residents and the few visitors they received--was a pacifistic city, however, that had not responded well to their presence there the first time--regardless of the fact that they had saved the city from a Galbadian invasion. Squall could only guess at what their reaction would be _this_ time around.

"Squall to the bridge," said Nida over the intercom. "We've arrived at FH. And it looks like we're not the only ones."

Squall moved stiffly out of his makeshift room in the hanger and onto the lift, stepping on the panel. The lift rose to the bridge, and he saw that the rest of his party was already there. They were staring out the window, each with a different level of confusion on their faces. Squall looked at Quistis for an explanation; she was the one who (aside from Nida) was most likely to say something sane.

"Look down there, Squall," was all she said, however. Squall carefully pushed Irvine away to make room for himself, and looked down at the view of FH below. On the tier that had held the Garden docked for so long there was a long, three-hulled black ship instead. A long, narrow deck and sloping hull comprised the main body, and it was supported on either side by longer ballasts--ballasts which resembled nothing more than elongated canoes. Planks ran from the ballasts to the deck, and one could barely make out the figures of people moving around on them.

"Take us down," Squall said to Nida. "We'll see what's going on once we've landed." He paused. _(It's been a while since our last real battle,)_ he thought. _(If it should become necessary..._) "Equip your GFs, just in case."

There was no real sensation of motion as the spaceship moved downwards, but there was a gathering air of tension inside the cockpit. The Ragnarok set down on the solar panel, the long stairs extended below them, and Squall turned to his team.

"If we need to split up, Zell, you're with Irvine. Quistis, you'll come with me. Nida--"

Nida sighed. "Stay and guard the ship. Right."

The four SeeDs stepped onto the lift, waiting as it took them down to the lower level. Moving through the ship and out onto the panels, they were surpried to see the diminuitive figure of Mayor Dobe scurrying towards them, casting glanced behind his shoulder. He looked very pale.

"Thank Hyne you're here," Dobe said, all but stuttering as he approached to them. "Please--you must help us--"

_(The man is practically gibbering,)_ Squall thought. _(This must really be serious--for him to want **our** __help?)_

"What is it?" Squall asked.

"They're invading the city--interrogating everyone--help! They simply _will not_ listen to reason--can't allow this kind of _atrocity_ to take place here, we're a peaceful city--we only have three fighters and they're _all coming_ and--"

_(...this isn't informative at **all**.)_ "Where? Who?"

"At the tier--and the railroad crossing. I don't know who, I honestly don't. _Please--"_ Lunging forward, he caught Squall's arm and began to start talking so fast there was no hope of deciphering him. Squall tried to pry him off, without any noticable degree of success.

"All right," Squall said. "Calm down. Irvine, Zell, you check out the track. I'll get the tier. ...try not to fight unless it's unavoidable."

"Yes, sir!" Zell said with an exaggerated salute, and ran off.

"Thank you," Dobe said, releasing Squall. "Thank you, really, you have no idea how much this--"

Leaving as tactfully as he could, Squall restrained himself from pulling out his gunblade. He knew that Dobe hadn't ever believed they could solve anything without violence, and he sincerely wanted to prove him wrong. As Zell and Irvine moved off in the direction of the railroad tracks, he and Quistis sprinted towards the tier.

As they approached, they heard heavy footfalls coming their way. Squall ducked behind a large crate, pulling Quistis with him as the feet approached.

"Take this one to the Mayor," said a voice. "Threaten her if he refuses."

Through the slats in the crate Squall could see a heavily armored boot marching past. Then, dragging behind the person--was Selphie.

Bound and gagged, Selphie could only look around her. For one, single second her frightened green eyes met Squall's startled blue, and she made a muffled noise. Then she was dragged away.

"Selphie," Quistis said in a strained whisper. She began to say something else, but Squall clapped a gloved hand over her mouth.

Another pair of boots moved past, and Squall could hear someone talking.

"Where's the Lieutenant, anyway? Shouldn't he be out here?"

"He's back at the Tier, showin' off his armor," another voice said. "Tryin' to figure out where that _SeeD_ is. Hyne. I wouldn't want to be there when Lieutenant gets his hands on _him."_

"Forget Lieutentant--I'd be worried about when Master Dyne gets him," the other one said. "You hear he killed two sorceresses? Almost three? And I can imagine what it'll be like when Naja sees--"

_"Don't_ say that thing's name!" the first hissed, and there was an uncomfortable pause. "Two sorceresses?" the voice continued, fading away. "_No_, I didn't know that, you mudbrain. Think there's anyone on the face of the planet who hasn't heard--"

Quistis looked at Squall uncertainly. Concern for her friend and the need to do something for Selphie warred in her expression.

"Quistis," Squall said, removing his hand. "Follow them. See if you can help Selphie."

"Quistis nodded. "What about you?"

"I'm going after this--this 'Lieutenant,' " Squall said. "I think he might have Rinoa."

Quistis nodded. "Be safe," she said, and hurried off.

_(Looks like fighting may be inevitable,_) Squall thought as he took out his gunblade and stood up. _(Well, here's to inevitability.)_

Then he _ran_ towards the tier.


	5. Know Your Enemies

V  
_If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.  
--Sun Tzu_

_

* * *

_

Zell threw one of the grappling lines off the side of the raised railroad platform, leaving Irvine to deal with the three soldiers already on the rails. The soldiers--clad in bulky dusk-blue armor strangely remeniscent of an Iron Giant with a faceplate of tinted plastic and armed with a pistol and a short knife each, without discernable insignia or any marks or association or affiliation--were putting up a good fight. Good for _them_, at least. Definitely _not_ good for Zell and Irvine.

"Dammit!" Zell yelled as another grappling hook hit the side of the track next to him and he struggled to extract it.

Irvine gasped as a bullet embedded itself in his shoulder, reeling as searing pain shot through him. Making an elaborate gesture towards his opponent, he watched a massive pillar of ice rise from nowhere and felt the intense cold of the Blizzara spell. The soldier he had targeted staggered backwards, hairline cracks racing along his armor, and fell.

"Who are these goons, anyway?" Irvine called to Zell as three more grappling hooks landed.

"Minions of _hell!"_ Zell cursed as Irvine loaded a cartridge of armor-piercing into his gun and fired it at the enemy, who abruptly keeled over. The last enemy took a look at the other two and fled, leaving Irvine alone with Zell and the grapplers.

Pulling the knives from the two dead bodies, he tossed one to Zell. "Just cut the ropes!" he said. "They'll just throw 'em back up if we just toss 'em down!"

Zell caught the knife easily, and went to work sawing at one of the lines. Irvine took another, and soon all four ropes were cut. Just to make sure, Zell threw a Flare spell down at the boat below, yelling "Booya!" as it listed, taking on water. "So, now what do we do?"

"We should get to the tier," Irvine said. "Squall and Quisty might be in trouble."

"Hey, yeah," Zell said, stretching. "Come on! We gotta go!"

-

Quistis ran after the men who had Selphie, uncoiling her chain whip from her side as she ran, readying magic, and hoping she wouldn't have to use either. Frantically, she followed them around one corner, another, moving towards the heart of the city and the mayor's house.

"Quisty!" yelled a voice to one side, and she half-turned to look. Zell and Irvine ran up to her, worried expressions on their faces. "What's the matter?" asked Irvine. "I thought you were going to the tier?"

"Selphie--" Quistis managed to get out, pointing after the backs of the four men carrying the girl.

"Sefie?" Irvine demanded. "Where? C'mon! We have to get her!"

The three of them ran, ran all the faster because it was slightly downhill. The four carrying Selphie couldn't move as fast due to the bulky armor, and the small SeeD force was closing.

"Watch _out!"_ yelled Zell as one of them turned, sending a bolt of energy flying at the three. Quistis, not quite fast enough to dodge, caught it full in the stomach--it tore her off her feet, tossing her backward to land hard on the ground several metres away. Irvine hastily cast a triple-Protect on the party, while Zell searched his brain for a way to kill the guards without hurting Selphie. He finally cast Shell on Selphie, yelled for Quistis to Curaga her, and summoned the powerful Meteor spell on his opponents. Each took heavy of damage, though Selphie's Shell glowed a searing pink as it warded off the force.

A blue glow surrounded Selphie as Quistis healed her, though again the Shell glowed pink and blocked some of the magic. Two of the guards had collapsed, leaving the one who had shot Quistis in the first place and the one who was watching Selphie. Irvine cast Flare on the first one, yowling as a Reflect shield seemed to appear out of nowhere and sent the Flare screaming back at him. The second man cast Demi--but not on any of the SeeDs.

The rift opened beside him, hissing as it displaced the ocean air. Grabbing Selphie as the hole reached its widest point, he stepped through--distorted, shimmered, and disappeared. The first soldier followed suit almost immediately, leaving the area deserted except for the two dead bodies and a dropped Phoenix Down.

"Damn!" Zell stormed, looking at where the to men had been. "Got away... "

"Where's Squall?" asked Irvine as the thought occurred to him.

"At the tier," Quistis said. He wanted to question the leader."

"And you left him there? Alone?" Irvine demanded.

"Ifrit! He's going to get himself _killed!"_ Zell said. Quistis paled.

"Move!" she said and, once again, ran.

-

Squall wished he could tell Diablos to keep his enemies away, but he knew he couldn't. Even if he had the GF--which he didn't, as Irvine was looking after him--it wouldn't have done any good; Diablos had been silent and unreachable since the Demi spell had turned on him. Squall's hand tightened on his gunblade as he asked every god and GF he knew for good luck--not that he really believe that now, luck would be the deciding factor. Slinking along in the dubious protection of the shadows, he tried not to make a sound as he moved towards the tier. He passed several heavily-armored guards on his way, each one meaner-looking than the last. Finally he caught sight of what he _thought_ was the Lieutenant--a man in burnished, silvery armor, no helmet, with a heavily bearded face and a nose that looked like it had been broken several times. Two brownish horns rose from the armor on his shoulders, and the metal tips on each gleamed in the sunlight. None of the guards were in sight, presumably out of fear and respect for their leader.

Squall watched him for a moment from behind a pile of nets, then, readying his gunblade, stood up.

"Hey," he yelled, walking down towards the Lieutenant. The huge man looked at him, folding massive arms across his chest. When Squall stood about three paces away he stopped, glaring at the Lieutenant in a challenging gaze. Not proper negotiatign tactics--but then, he had no illusions about this being a negotiation.

"Who are you?" rumbled the man.

"Where's Rinoa?" asked Squall instead of answering him. The man blinked.

"You know a lot," he said cryptically. "The Sorceress is in a safe place."

Squall winced inwardly, but remained composed outwardly. "Take me to her," he demanded.

"By Dyne--" the man said, squinting at Squall. Reaching his right hand out to his side, a dark, bladed quarterstaff shimmered into existance in it. Bringing it in front of him, parallel to the ground, he growled "you're the SeeD!"

The man charged with surprising speed, and Squall only barely managed to dodge the man's thrust. Spinning around to face the younger combatant once again, the Lieutenant lunged and stabbed wildly. For all that the other man's style of attack was haphazard--manic, even--Squall found that he was having a much harder time countering the blows that he thought he would.

The Lieutenant forced Squall backwards one step at a time, towards the edge of the platform and the boundless sea beneath. Squall found he couldn't concentrate enough to summon a GF or even cast magic, the Lieutenant's attacks were coming too quickly. He was quickly beginning to wonder if he had bitten off more than he could chew.

_(Dammit! Quistis, Zell--anybody--!_) he thought. _(Help--)_

The Lieutenant suddenly grabbed both ends of his quarterstaff, ready to bash Squall with the pole itself. Seeing his chance, Squall brought his gunblade down on the pole _hard,_ expecting to cut it in half--

There was the sound of twisting metal, and the blade snapped off the handle, leaving Squall to drop the hilt in pain as the harsh vibrations traveled up its length. The Lieutenant grinned, and hit him with the broad side of the pole hard enough to send him back to balance on the edge, where a punch to the face sent him falling over. It was only by the sheerest luck that he found something to hang onto, but from there he was helpless...

The Lieutenant laughed, and swung the quarterstaff down to finish the job. Squall tried to turn to one side, twistign against his shoulder and his arm, but the sharp blade cut down his face--it was a mockery or a miracle that it hadn't cleaved his skull in two. Pain shocked through him, and he gritted his teeth as blood ran from the wound. The man raised it and swung it downwards and sideways in an arc, digging the point into Squall's side.

_(I can't die here...)_ he thought desperately as th gore flowed into his eyes, ignoring the fact for the moment that paradoxically, these weren't _killing_ blows--

The last thing he saw clearly was the Lieutenant raising his staff high above his head.

"Hey!" snapped a voice from somewhere. There was a sound of surprise, the clashing of metal, and a loud, pained grunt from somewhere above him. Blood was beginning to flow down his side, and his fingers were beginning to cramp--and had he any clarity of thought, he would have wondered why _those_ discomforts were the ones he was most aware of. Wondering how long he would have to hold on, he tightened his grip.

For some reason Squall _didn't_ feel a blade sliding into his chest, and he tired to blink the blood away to see why. He saw the Lieutenant go flying past him and into the ocean, and then he couldn't make anything out. Someone grabbed his arm and pulled him ashore roughly, affording no consideration from the way the gouge in his side ripped and stretched with the force--the same someone took Squall's arm and threw it across his shoulder. A hand gripped him just below his opposite arm, and Squall leaned heavily on his invisible rescuer for support as the person moved off, hauling him along. Then, from shock, exhaustion, and loss of blood, he blacked out.

-

Quistis led the way back towards the tier at a dead run, Zell and Irvine trailing behind. Taking all the back streets and alleys so as to avoid attack they made a pace rather slower than what they could have--but finally, arms at the ready, they reached the section of the city that Squall had headed towards. They burst in loose formation through the gap between two buildings, spreading out at once, ready to help Squall in any battle.

He was nowhere to be seen.

Fearing the worst, Quistis searched the area for a sign, _any_ sign as to what had happened to him, when there was a low moan from Irvine. Quistis turned to look as Zell held up both halves of a broken gunblade--the hilt still with a silver lion's head medallion attached by a thin chain to it. Zell had recognized it immediately--he had once made a replica of the lion for Rinoa, and used a ring much like this medallion for the model.

Quistis rushed over, looking around the ground by where Zell was standing. Slowly, her gaze drifted to the edge of the platform, where a few flecks of blood gleamed from the edge. Bending down, she touched one of the drops--it was still wet.

_(No...)_ she thought as she closed her eyes. Forcing herself to open them and look down again, she saw the ocean water was tranquil, except for the usual small waves. There was no sign of a body.

"Quisty?" Irvine said hesitantly. Someone grabbed her shoulder as she closed her eyes again, a tear escaping from her tightly-clenched lids. She turned to throw her arms around Irvine, shaking. The three remained in silence for some time, Fisherman's Horizon forgotten.

"He was... a good friend," Irvine said lamely. He and Squall had never really gotten along, but he felt he should say something to Quistis to cheer her up. She shook her head, remembering something.

_--they were in Galbadia Garden's waiting room, after receiving the news that Seifer had (supposedly) been executed. The feelings ran from stunned surprise to regret to sadness to grief, but Squall hadn't said anything. He just stood there, listening, seeming to get angrier and angrier, yet trying not to show it. Quistis had asked him what was wrong, and he had yelled "I won't have anyone talking about me in the past tense!" and ran out of the room. No one had said anything about it later; they had let it drop so as not to make Squall uncomfortable. But it was still a reminder that Squall was only human.  
Only **mortal**--_

"He didn't want anyone talking about him like that," Quistis said, brushing away the involuntary tear. "We--should get back to the Ragnarok."

"What about the city?" Zell said, gesturing to the dark shape of the Mayor's house. "They need our help!"

Quistis was tempted to say _(Forget the city! Let them handle their own problems for once,) _ but she didn't. Standing up slowly, she tried to summon rage to banish the sorrow. A fierce light gleamed in her eyes as she tightened her grip on the whip at her side.

"Let's get them," she said, voice shaking.


	6. No Trace of Passing

VI

_"We would not bow to sorcery were it a layman's trade. All things terrifying are ill-understood."  
--Centran proverb  
_

* * *

"Hey, I think he's awake, ya know?" 

Squall's eyes were open for almost a minute before he realized that they were open. It was oppressively dark in... wherever he was. There was a cloth bandage wrapped around his skull, somewhat too tightly; the air had the peculiar smell of old seawater, fish, and the cleaners that were supposed to eradicate the fish smell that he was more accustomed to smelling by the dock sheds in Balamb.

Somehow, he guessed that Balamb was _not_ his location.

"GOOD," said a clipped, sharp voice. Squall closed his eyes again, groaning inwardly: those voices could only belong to Fujin and Raijin, the former Disciplinary Committee at Balamb Garden, and Seifer's de facto "posse."

As if the universe couldn't leave him with that bit of bad news, another voice joined the first to--a practiced blend of smug arrogance and haughty wry aplomb that could only belong to Seifer Almasy, because he was the only one in thw world who could practice it so well.

"You could thank me, you know," Seifer said, and Squall blinked to adjust his eyes.

"Why?" Squall croaked, throat raw from salt air and adrenaline and who knew what else. He really wished he had enough energy to call up an Ultima spell or two--just in case they became necessary. With Seifer, this wasn't such a farfetched concern.

"Well, to start with, I saved your life," Seifer said, grinning. "So I guess that makes you _in my debt_."

"You?" Squall asked weakly. Seifer stood up, flourishing his gunblade, and smiled even more broadly.

"Yes, Mr. Leader. Crusading defender of the helpless, that's me," he said. "A bit of fancy footwork, a dash of _striking heroics_, and Silver Armor Man goes flying out to sea to sleep with the fish. And then you have the good grace to drip blood all over my coat."

"He ain't lyin', ya know?" Raijin broke in. "I mean, it was great, ya know?"

"QUIET," Fujin commanded--and for once, Squall could almost have thanked her. Seifer's dramatics were hard enough to deal with when he _wasn't_ suffering a head injury. Fujin turned toward him, red eye glinting in the low light, and asked "REST?"

Squall nodded, still confused and utterly unable to shake the feeling there was something Seifer wasn't telling him. It would be an understatement to say he didn't trust him. It was hard to trust a man who had very nearly destroyed the world.

In all fairness, the world still existed, and Seifer had been much more of an accomplice than an instigator--an odd role for him to take, and likely not one he would soon forget or repeat. Ultimecia had been an anomaly in more ways that one, and as long as crazed sorceresses from the future didn't start popping out of the woodwork it was probably safe _enough_ to assume that Seifer would restrain himself to no more than the usual acts of misconduct.

Even so, the usual acts of misconduct provided reason aplenty for suspension of trust...

"Where are we?"

"Fisherman's Horizon," Seifer said, as if it should have been obvious. "Of course."

"What happened?"

"It was weird, ya know?" said Raijin. "This weird black ship comes in an' all, and then they start whackin' stuff up, ya know? An' then all of a sudden the Mayor actually wants us fight, ya know? An'--"

"QUIET," Fujin repeated, and proceeded to summarize in a way only she could. "FLEET, COME. ATTACK. REPULSED. VICTORY."

"Yeah," Raijin said. "So, anyway, the mayor asks us to actually _fight_ an' all, so we do."

"Then I see you playing miniature hero, and I just have to come help out," Seifer smirked. "You should really learn to play safe, you know."

"Shut up," Squall croaked, trying to plot out escape scenarios when he wasn't entirely sure he could stand without dizzy spells sending him crashing to the floor again. This still wasn't making sense. This was _Seifer_, Squall's self-styled rival and nemesis, continual opponent, enemy, former _torturer,_ for Hyne's sake... and rescuer? One of these things was _not_ like the other.

He had tried to _kill_ Squall on several occasions. And yet...

_(Times were different,)_ he thought. _(He was Ultimecia's puppet. He went chasing after a dream, only to find out he was chasing shadows. For Seifer, that must have been... well, I doubt he could deal with it. And I doubt he thought he **could** go back.)_

"So, to repay your life debt, you can start by filling me in about what's been happening," Seifer said, squatting next to Squall and setting his gunblade on the floor. "News isn't exactly easy to come by here in the middle of nowhere. Well? Come on. Cough it up."

Squall closed his eyes. _(Too much has happened.)_ "We fought Ultimecia. We came back. Rinoa went to work things out with her father. Then she disappeared, and we got called in to investigate. Then Selphie disappeared. Then Diablos disappeared. We came to Fisherman's Horizon to investigate, and arrived in the middle of an invasion."

"Well, gee, when you put it like _that_, your life must _really_ be boring." Seifer put a hand on Squall's shoulder, and grinned. "Don't worry about it. I bet you'll find them sooner or later."

.._Seifer is offering me reassurances.)_ It was hard not to snort. _(I must **really** look depressed._) "Really," he said flatly.

Seifer laughed. "Believe me, that Squad A girl is like a bad gil--you just can't seem to get rid of her."

Squall frowned slightly at the phrase he had chosen--_get rid of her_. "I need to get back to the Ragnarok," he said, struggling to sit up. Seifer pushed him back, shaking his head.

"You mean the airship that was here? Forget it. It left."

"What?"

"You're stranded here, buddy," Seifer said. Squall stared up at him for a second.

"You can't mean--"

Seifer nodded. "Welcome to Fisherman's Horizon," he said.

-

Quistis stared out over the waves from the cockpit of the Ragnarok, wondering what to do next. They were clearly up against an enemy out of their league--they had killed Squall, hadn't they?--and she had no idea what to do. The black ship had disappeared without a trace; even from the Ragnarok's high vantage, no one had been able to see it. And now she was the leader. They hadn't even _asked_ her; it had just seemed to be the default procedure.

She suddenly realized that this was what Squall must have felt like when Cid had called him to his office and announced that he would be the leader of Balamb Garden, and then effectively disappeared. Quistis didn't _want_ to be leader, didn't want the responsibility. But given the other choices available...

_(I couldn't even be an instructor,) _she thought morosely._ (I got **fired**. "No leadership abilities--failed instructor," they said. Now I have to take over?)_ It wasn't fair. It shouldn't have happened.

But it had. And there was absolutely no use in arguing that, now.

"So! Quistis! What are we going to _do_, now?" Nida asked from the pilot's seat for what, judging by his tone, was likely the third or forth time. Quistis started, and shook her head.

"I have no idea what Squall was planning," she admitted with some chagrin, "so I guess we'll have to do the best we can... alone."

"Where are we going to go?"

Quistis turned to stare at her hands, clutching the gunblade hilt Zell had found. The blade lay next to her, a leather half-sheath protecting the sharp tip and blade. Griever sparkled in the light gleaming through the window, and, for a second, Quistis wondered what made Squall name the lion. It was an oddly sentimental name for someone so outwardly controlled.

And oddly... foreboding, as well.

"I don't know," she said. She knew standard Garden procedures for when someone died: not an unheard-of event in the massive military organization. The next-of-kin was notified, and given any personal belongings the deceased might have had. But Squall, an orphan like the rest of them, _had_ no next-of-kin. The closest he had ever had was Ellone, the person he called--no, the person he _used_ to call--Sis.

"Head to Esthar," Quistis said on impulse. Nida raised an eyebrow, nodded his assent, and pulled back on the controls. The Ragnarok slid smoothly out across the ocean towards the infamous isolation of the Esthar continent.

-

President Laguna Loire of Esthar woke up to the synthesized chime of the doorbell to his suite, and nearly mumbled something about ten minutes more. Then, realizing what time it really was, he vaulted out of his bed and ran to the door.

"Late sleeper?" Kiros asked as Laguna opened the door, and Laguna colored slightly.

"I have a meeting today, don't I?" he asked.

"An appointment, they'd normally call it," Kiros said. "They'll be here any time."

"Darn," Laguna said. "And I was having such a nice dream--"

"Raine or Julia?" Kiros asked, causing the president to blush a furious scarlet.

"None of your business," he mumbled, pulling his fingerless gloves on and his denim coat off the wall, violating nearly every code of Estharan dress and decorum they had ever bothered to write down. "Who wants to see me?"

"Wouldn't say his name," Kiros said. "But he said he had urgent business with you and Ellone."

"Ellone? Uh, for state business? That's weird, isn't it," Laguna said.

"Last I _checked_. She's waiting for you in the meeting room," Kiros said, turning to leave, long braids swinging. "I'd get down there if I were you."

"Right," he said. "I'm coming. I'm coming."

Stepping into the meeting room, Laguna was just in time to see a silver-clad Esthar Herald moved into the room and step aside as a man in ridiculously large armor stepped in. He looked... almost like an Iron Giant. His first reaction was the same one he had had when he had seen Squall for the first time: _(Man, that guy looks way too serious.)_

"Welcome on behalf of Esthar and--" Laguna started formally, when the man thrust his hand out towards Ellone and sent a Demi spell raging towards her. Laguna reacted almost instantly; his training as a Galbadian soldier came in handy sometimes. Leaping over to Ellone, he yanked her out of the vortex just as it reached its widest point.

Bereft of one target it went raging towards the next closest one--the president himself.

There was hardly time to scream for security before Laguna vanished. The armored man took a look around, fairly obviously calculating his chances and his time, cast a Demi spell on himself, and disappeared mere seconds after Laguna did. Stunned silence fell over the meeting room.

Moments too late, the Esthar guards came running in. Ellone looked at them, eyes wide and shocked.

Kiros was already engaging in a rapid-fire explanation of the abduction to the foremost guard when Ellone swayed, one hand moving toward her mouth. Ward caught her, and just im time--a moment later she shuddered, and went entirely limp.


	7. Unpleasant Revelations

VII  
_"Death is the last enemy. Once we get past that, I think everything will be all right."  
--Anonymous_

* * *

Quistis moved carefully along Esthar's translucent suspended thoroughfares, keeping a tight grip on the wrapped package she held. Though the Lunar Cry had been an entire year ago, almost all the monsters who had plummeted from the moon to the planet's surface coralled or hunted or otherwise made harmless, there was no telling whether or not an Imp or a Torama still lurked somewhere within the city. She wasn't about to be caught unaware.

And besides, the longer it took her to get to the palace, the more time she would have before she had to deliver a death notice to someone she still regarded as a sibling and close friend.

Irvine had offered to accompany her, but she had refused. So she was there, alone, heading towards Esthar's Presidential Palace without deigning to take the in-city lifts. They would get her there faster. And, coming up on the massive residence, she could only reflect that she had gotten there far too swiftly, as it was.

A guard greeted her as she approached. "Excuse me," she said, as calmly as she could. "May I see Ellone?"

"Who are you?" the guard replied, eying her with open suspicion.

"Quistis Trepe, a SeeD from Balamb Garden. I have an... important message to deliver to Ellone. Might I see her?"

The guard grunted. "Yeah, you're cleared. Go on in," he said, and Quistis moved past him into the palace. Asking directions of various milling officials inside, she managed to find her way to the meeting room antechamber where Ellone was sitting.

"Quisty," she exclaimed as Quistis walked in, voice flatly lacking in warmth. It was obvious she was trying to be friendly--but she was preoccupied, and not doing a good job of hiding it. "So good to see you. How is everyone?"

Something in Quistis's expression must have alerted her.

"Quisty--" she began, sitting up straighter, every semblance of levity dropped at once from her face. "What's wrong?"

Quistis steadied herself, trying not to let emotion overcome SeeD presentation, holding the package out to Ellone. Ellone took it hesitantly, unwrapping the folds of black silk that encircled it. An uncomprehending, stricken expression came into her face as she saw the broken gunblade. Looking up at Quistis, she plead silently that it wasn't what she thought.

"We were fighting at Fisherman's Horizon," Quistis said. "An army in heavy armor. We couldn't identify them--Selphie had been kidnapped earlier, and we were going after her. Irvine and Zell were trying to keep more soldiers from entering the city, and Squall and I went to see about the other boarding site. We saw Selphie in custody, and heard them talking about some 'Lieutenant,' and we had to investigate. Squall sent me off to go after Selphie, while he went to the tier--"

Something caught in Quistis' throat, and she paused for a minute to calm herself. "When I got there with Zell and Irvine, all we found was that."

"And Selphie?" Ellone asked in a small voice.

"We couldn't save her," Quistis said. "And Rinoa's been kidnapped, too."

Ellone slumped in her chair, looking at her hands and the silver gunblade. "But why? Why now?"

"I don't know," Quistis murmured.

"Quisty... a blue-armored man was _here_, a bit ago. He tried to abduct _me_ a bit ago. Laguna pulled me away, but he got taken instead. And I--" she paused just before she finished the sentence. "I can't Connect anymore, Quisty," she said. "I tried. I can't go back into anyone's past. I wanted to know what had happened, see if maybe I could find where he was--but I can't. Anytime I try to do it--it just _hurts_."

Quistis sat down in a chair across from Ellone, head bowing forward. "What are we going to do?" she asked--all too aware that Ellone couldn't offer a strategical option.

She wasn't looking for stategy. At the moment, she just wanted _hope_.

Ellone shook her head and stared at the gunblade lying in her arms. "What _can_ we do?" she asked softly.

Quistis closed her eyes. _(You're a leader now,)_ she berated herself. _(You have to come up with an option. You have to command._)

"...I don't know."

-

The boredom was driving him insane.

Looking over across the dock he saw that Fujin and Raijin were having a good time. Even Seifer seemed to be enjoying himself. Squall, however, plagued with his inability to to anything, was slowly driving himself crazy. He couldn't even heal himself: the Curaga spell he had tried seemed to give him energy, relieved the headache he had, and even eased the sore shoulder he had had from a recent bout with a Wendigo in the training center--but it had been unable to close or even lessen the gaping wound in his side.

He had managed to get one of the grappling hooks from the invasion and a long coil of rope, and was now trying to snag and rip off a piece of coral from the reef that the magic lamp had been found in. He seemed to be having only marginally better luck than Seifer, who was fishing. Which wasn't saying much: Seifer had already _lost_ two of his hooks.

Squall had managed to catch one fish, though: it had tried to eat the seaweed that had gotten coiled around the grappler. Raijin seemed inordinately pleased with Squall's first catch, and had taken it off to cook it. Horrible smells wafted from the kitchen.

Glancing back over at his former enemies, he saw Fujin walk slowly up behind Raijin, saying nothing. It took a good two minutes before Raijin noticed--and when he did, having just caught his eighteenth fish, he jumped up faster than anyone with his bulk should realistically be ably to do.

"Hey, not again, ya know?" he asked, the expression on his face speaking to terror beyond mortal ken. "I--I can't _swim_, ya know?"

Squall was finding it very hard not to grab the nearest piece of fishing material that could approximate the size and weight of a gunblade and begin indiscriminate violence.

Raijin ran over to the kitchen, yaking Squall's fish out of the oven with a chorus of "Ah! Ah!"s as he juggled the hot sheet, fanning it with his hand. When the pungent smoke had ceased to waft, he turned and brought it over to Squall.

"No luck, huh?" he asked, grinning when Squall shook his head. "Let me try, ya know?"

Squall shrugged and handed the line to Raijin: unless he lost the hook, he couldn't possibly have less luck than Squall had. The bad smells were still coming from the fish, and Squall wondered for a second whether or not he should eat it.

Raijin kept eyeing him with high anticipation.

Steeling himself, he pulled off a bit of the meat and put it in his mouth.

"This is great, ya know?" Raijin asked. "I mean, Seifer saved you an' all. I guess that makes you... blood brothers, ya know?"

Squall choked. Literally. The piece of fish lodged itself somewhere in his throat, and Raijin had to pound him on the back before he coughed it out and it fell into the ocean. Which was quite all right in his book--it had tasted just as bad as it had smelled.

Raijin yanked up on the line, pulling up the grappling hook and a piece of coral easily the size of his head. "Nothin' to it, ya know?" he said, grinning from ear to ear. Squall looked at the fish suspiciously, pulling off another bit. A reddish ichor oozed from the hole.

"What kind of fish is this?" he asked.

"I'll bet is one o' them Balamb fish, ya know? Delacasies, ya know?"

_(This... can't be happening.)_ Squall looked at the fish suspiciously. "Any chance it might be a _Babamb_ fish?"

Raijin glanced at it, unconcerned. "Maybe. Why?"

_(Because Badamb fish are **highly poisonous**?)_ Quietly, he tipped the plate into the ocean, then turned to give Raijin an incredulous glare.

There was a moment of pause, and Raijin mouthed a silent "Oh."

The fish floated on the water for a second, then a shark appeared and snatched it. Squall was surprised. He hadn't known there were sharks around FH.

"H-hey," Raijin said. "S-sorry about that, ya know? Didn't realize, ya know?" He jumped up and went running back to Seifer, who was angrily throwing his line back into the water. Squall, with a last, annoyed look at Raijin, turned to the coral and began looking it over.

Coral usually had varying amounts of thunder element charge, but a quick check to see if Quezacotl could refine it showed it didn't. It made sense--why would a gravity elemental GF be found inside a reef of thunder elemental coral? Only Diablos had time-space refining ability, so he couldn't check it for gravity.

_Wait_--yes, he could! He had a piece of normal coral in his pack. Reaching in, he took it out and tossed it to the ground a fair distance away from him. Breaking off a piece of the other coral, he tossed it to the ground in a different direction. Concentrating, he cast Demi on the thunder-element coral.

As he had expected, it shattered.

Turning, he cast the same spell on the FH coral, watching for any sign. Not only did it not shatter, it actually grew when the spell finished.

_(The coral must have a very strong gravity element,)_ Squall thought. _(Was that why those men were here? They used all those Demi spells; having a reef like this would be... a good investment. They would have a damn near infinite amount...)_

Thinking about it, his theory made perfect sense. Which meant that the men would, most probably, come back. And in greater numbers. They had expected an entirely defenseless fishing village, not expecting Seifer, Fujin, and Raijin. Then Squall and his team had showed up--but this time, they would be more prepared. The black armies would come with enough men to wipe out both parties, not knowing one had gone. And of the four left, Squall was hardly in a fighting condition: his side still throbbed, and he had no weapon.

The only thing to do would have been to call in for reinforcements, but that was nearly impossible. Fisherman's Horizon was one of the most isolated inhabited areas in the world, aside from the Shumi Village and Trabia Garden--and, arguably, Esthar. But aside from the Ultima draw point in the Shumi village, there was nothing of value there. Trabia Garden was still trying to finish the repairs from when they had been the target of a missile strike, and now no one would find anything of interest there. And Esthar was quite capable of defending itself.

In short, the most defenseless city in the world had the one thing the odd army wanted most. And now Squall was being asked to work with his worst enemy against impossible odds to defend it.

_(...yay,_) Squall thought sarcastically, staring off to sea. _(I knew this was going to be a crappy week.)_


	8. Reality

VIII  
_"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, does not go away."  
--Anonymous_

_

* * *

_  
Zell had named the hangar closet the "Commodore Suite."

It had been Squall's office--and defacto bunk--on their infrequent air missions, but little sign of that remained. Squall had always been exceptionally fastidious, his quarters exceptionally spartan--the hangar was no exception. Now, there was little more than a legal pad and a sleeping pad.

He had left so little behind.

Quistis stood in the office, one hand on the makeshift desk, staring at the remnants. She had lost track of time, wandering in her own thoughts, when the door slid open behind her and Zell stepped in.

She jumped--she hadn't expected anyone. She had nearly forgotten that there were other breathing bodies on the ship. She pulled herself up, trying her best to retake her professionalism--to assume the role of leader. "Is there something--"

"Don't do it," Zell begged.

She trailed off at the look in his eyes. "...what?"

"This! Don't--just, don't do _this_!" Zell stepped forward, hands half-entreating, half-fisted. "You're acting like _Squall_ did! Irvine says you won't talk to him and I _know_ you don't want to talk to _me_ and now--now you've been spending more time in here than Squall did, and I bet you're taking all the blame for it and--and--_dammit_! Don't go thinking you're the only one who feels bad about this!"

Quistis shook her head. "But I should have--"

"Dammit! I said _no!_" Zell's voice was rising, his control wavering. "How do you think the rest of us feel? I--I _laughed in his face_ last time I talked to him alone! How do you think _I_ feel? How do you think _Irvine_ feels? He still thinks he should have gone after Squall as soon as we saw you alone! And, dammit, we sill have a _job_ to do, and we sure as _hell_ aren't going to do it if we're moping around here!"

Zell was shaking with suppressed emotion. _(Too much has happened,)_ Quistis realized. _(We can't take any more of this.)_ A tear beaded in her eye--she turned away. _(**I** can't take any more of this. But I have to be in control--)_

Zell caught her, pulling her into what was as much a tackle as an embrace. He wrapped his arms around her, buried his face in her shoulder--held on as tightly as if he were sure _she_ was going to disappear, and he couldn't let her go.

"Selphie's still alive," he said, as soon as they had both stopped shaking. "She's gotta be. And Rinoa. We're gonna find them. Okay?"

Quistis took a shuddering breath. "...okay," she said.

"We're _gonna_ find them. " Zell released her, looking faintly chagrined. There was a watery shine in his eyes. "We just gotta know where to loo--"

The ship lurched beneath them.

Both jumped. Zell looked around, muttering something under his breath. "Let's get to the bridge!" he said, running out the door with Quistis hard on his heels.

When they arrived they saw nothing out of the ordinary, Irvine was leaning against the wall next to the copilot's seat, and Nida was handling the controls.

"What is going on?" Zell demanded.

"It's simple," Irvine said in a no-nonsense tone of voice. "If you think about it, first Rinoa was taken, then they tried to get Ellone, and Squall was being targeted, too. There's only one major thing that connects the three."

"Only one?" Quistis asked.

"Only one _major_ thing that connects the three," Irvine said again. "The Ultimecia plot."

"So..."

"So aside from Seifer, who we probably couldn't find even if by some chance we actually _wanted_ to, who's the other person who was most involved in the plot?"

Quistis thought for a moment--then her eyes went wide.

"Exactly," Irvine said. "Matron."

"But what about Selphie?" Zell asked. "She didn't have anything more to do with the plot than we did."

"I'm working on it, OK? I don't have it all figured out yet." Irvine turned back to the window. "But we're going to the orphanage, see if we can beat the blackies there."

"All right," Quistis said. "Good. Let's see how fast this thing can fly."

Staring out at the horizon below, Quistis sighed. _(We'll find her,)_ she thought. _(We'll get Rinoa back, Squall. I promise.)_

_- _

Laguna opened his eyes to darkness.

The gloom was all-pervasive. There was a dirt floor beneath him, and the air smelled musty and cold. He couldn't tell where he was, or when. And he had a pounding headache.

There was the sound of muffled sniffling from across the room (if one could call it a room), and Laguna shook his head, trying to make anything out in the black.

"Where are we?" he asked. "Who--who's there?"

Someone put a hand on his shoulder, and he almost jumped out of his skin. "Si--Mr. Laguna? It's me," the person said. "Selphie Tilmitt? From SeeD? And Rinoa's here, too."

"Why?" Laguna asked. "What happened?"

"We don't know," Selphie said. "But it's been a real bummer. No one's done anything with us yet, they just sort of leave us here, and they haven't given us food or light or anything, except..." she shifted, cloth loud in the silence. "They came and dragged me around outside a bit. Fisherman's Horizon. Said something about showing me to someone, but then they got attacked so they didn't..."

She trailed off.

"I don't know what's happening," Rinoa moaned softly. "I can't tell where we are."

Moving over to her, navigating by the sound of her voice, Laguna clapped her on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it," he said. "Your dad's Caraway, right? He'll probably have the whole Galbadian military out looking for you. And Kiros and Ward will be sure to mobilize Esthar. And your friend, Squall--do you think he'd just leave you here? We're gonna be found in no time."

"But--" Rinoa sounded unconvinced.

"Yeah!" Selphie said. "I even saw Squall and Irvy and Quistis and Zell, and they tried to rescue me," she said--with a certain amount of forcen enthusiasm.

"Don't worry about it," Laguna said again. "I--"

There was a low, silty laugh from the far end of the chamber, sliding like the sand in an hourglass. "Fools," the voice said. "They can never find us here. We are _nowhere_."

Laguna jumped. "What? Who are you?"

Lurid red eyes opened, spilling a ghastly light in the void.

"I am Diablos," the voice said, "and welcome to my netherworld."


	9. Dubious Allies

IX  
_"The worst enemies make the best allies."  
--Centran saying  
_

* * *

"We're in _danger,"_ Squall said for the fourth time, glaring at Seifer. "If there's any way to contact SeeD, or Esthar, or Galbadia, we have to. Otherwise this entire city is going to be _overrun_." 

"So tell me what you're going to do about it," Seifer sneered, tapping the tip of his gunblade, Hyperion, against the floor. "Wnt to walk to Esthar?"

_(I have **before**.)_ "I don't know," he admitted. "Doesn't this city have any communications relays?"

"Why should they?" Seifer asked with a sneer. "They don't care about the outside world. Too _violent_ for their tastes."

Squall closed his eyes. _(Hyne help me with xenophobic pacifists and inexplicable armies--)_ "We have to send someone to Garden--"

"Who? Me? They'd kill me before I got within a kilometer. And with that," Seifer pointed to the bandage wrapped around Squall's stomach, "you aren't going anywhere. You'll probably take three steps and faint. And if you're going to ask Mayor Dobe, well, I hope you know how to swim. And we can't leave this place _defenseless_, or they'd fall on their faces and surrender before the first person stepped ashore!"

"Hey, look what I found, ya know?" called Raijin, walking into the room holding up a shark's carcass. "I just found it, ya know? Floatin' on the water all dead an' all."

"STRANGE," said Fujin, readjusting her eyepatch.

Something caught Squall's attention. "Let me see that," he said. Raijin tossed the shark towards him, almost bowling him over as he caught it. Opening the shark's mouth, he saw a scrap of red-tinted roasted fish, and a scrap of orange skin. "Badamb fish," he pronounced--and a thought struck him. "...I have an idea."

Seifer crossed his arms. "Yeah?"

"Raijin?"

"Yeah?"

"How many Badamb fish can you catch?"

Raijin shook his head. "Oh, no. You want Balamb fish, ya know? Badamb fish are poisonous, ya--"

Seifer got it--and a grin was spreading across his face. "That's the oldest trick in the oldest book in the world," he said. "Hell, wasn't that in Hyne's Bible or something?"

Squall shrugged.

Raijin looked lost. "Huh? I dunno what's--"

"If you can't _beat_ 'em..." Seifer turned to Raijin, gesturing imperiously at the fishing shed. "Let's play pacifists with Mayor Dork. You're gonna cook up a welcome feast for them."

There was very nearly a glint of vindictive amusement in Fujin's eye. "AFFIRMATIVE!" she snapped.

"Hey, this'll be fun, ya know?" Raijin said and ran after his fishing pole. Seifer turned to Squall, hauling him to his feet.

"Well, I guess even you get lucky and have good ideas _sometimes_," he conceded. "Hope you don't mind a bit of a walk. This place isn't exactly known for its public transport."

"Whatever," Squall said. _(We're going to Galbadia if we have to walk the wrong way around the globe to get there_.)

-

The Cape of Good Hope and its grey-stone orphanage slid swiftly into the massive dragonship's view, but it wasn't the other thing. Gliding across the waves, stately and dangerous like waterlocked raptors, a flotilla of black ships skirted the land. Onemades its way towards Edea's orphanage, the others--nine at a quick count--held in tight formation still nearly close enough to spit.

"Whoa!" Zell breathed, staring out the cockpit windows. "We better not be trying to take _all_ of them on..."

"No," Quistis said, voice steely. "This ship is armed."

Irvine nodded. Moving over to the weapons panel, he glared down at the approaching ship. "Readying main beam cannon," he said. "Arming..."

Eneggy thrummed through the systems, cracking and hissing as it gathered before the cannon's mouth. It burned a searing blue, bright as a young star--it pulsed as it charged, a heartbeat and a dire warning.

"Firing," Irvine said, and the energy burst forth, hunting the black ship at inescapable speed... 

Nothing happened. The ship _was_ pushed several ship-lengths back in the water, but other than that, nothing.

"Damn!" Zell yelled.

"Beautiful, just beautiful," Nida said.

"Nida," Quistis asked hesitantly.

"Yes?" he asked, turning to look at her.

"If you extend the ladder now, can you get us close enough to board that ship?"

Nida turned and nodded. "Yeeeah, hold on a sec." Sending the ship into a shallow dive, he said "I'm extending the ladder now. If you want to go wait by it, I'll get you close enough. And good _luck_."

Quistis motioned to the other two to follow her onto the lift, and headed for the exit.

"Hopefully a show of strenght _here_ will mean we won't have to engage the others," she said, not really believeing it.

The ladder stuck out like a finger, pointing to the hull of the sturdy, black ship. Zell guessed it was a better class of ship than the one the had been at Fisherman's Horizon; that one had been smaller, raftlike, and broke in half with a Flare spell, while this one was sleek, fast, and stood up to the Ragnarok's artillery. The thing he didn't want to know was how many people they would have to fight to stop the ship from getting to shore and Edea.

The deck of the black ship loomed closer, and Zell made a fist nervously. What was taking Nida so long?

"We're close enough," Irvine said once the end of the ladder was about eight feet above the hull. "Jump!"

The three companions jumped, each one landing with a thump on the dark deck.

There was silence.

The rushing of the waves continued around them. Gulls called, circling out from land. The wind, heavy and wet with the scent of brine, rolled over thier arms and their noses and their ears. Hatches rose like huge dropped coins on the fore- and aftdeck, but remained solidly closed. "No one wants to come meet us?" Zell asked, moving lithely in attack posture. "Hell's--"

"Whoa--look _out_!"

Zell spun at Irvine's outburst--and spun again, twisting to avoid the harpoon that hissed just beside his skin and slammed into the deck beside him. With incalculable swiftness a second ship had come up behind them, and the rest were circling--a hitherto-concealed weapons port on its nose had shot, and it was dragging the boarded ship closer. Within moments, the two hulls met with the dull scrape of slate on slate.

Within moments, both hulls swarmed with armored men.

Quistis didn't know how they moved so fast, so encumbered--at the moment, she didn't want to. Her attention was focused on not letting them overwhelm her, chain whip cracking and singing like a living asp, seeking any weak point in the armor. They came at her with long swords and staves, fencing her in, herding her towardthe ship edge and the bitter cold of southern water.

"GFs!" Quistis yelled, focusing her mind to summon Shiva. Shiva had been Squall's GF--and the thought of it made her cold with anger, focused her mind with force and hate. Shiva appeared, ice blossoming from her like vicious vines, snapping around the soldiers' legs and slamming them with blizzard winds. A line of men fell and Shiva disappeared, taking her ice with her.

As soon as Quistis opened her eyes, she saw more armored warriors rushing towards her--and two more ships sliding in. She was separated from Irvine and Zell, afraid to use any sort of powerful magic lest it hit one of them. Her chain bit out, but wasn't a match for armor and long weapons for long--and she knew it.

Had she ordered her team into a deathtrap?

Irvine had loaded his shotgun and was shooting anything he could see that wasn't one of his friends, but it was obviously a losing battle. A Firaga spell engulfed a mass of people to one side, and Irvine looked over to see Zell stepping back into a fighting stance and dealing out blows left and right. The sharp crack of the chain whip sounded out, and another man went down--to be replaced by two fresh ones as a third ship anchored on and drew up.

Zell struggled to keep his footing as the mass on people cut him off from his friends, but he was being pushed back too quickly. The edge of the deck had no handrails; he had pushed several people off the side himself. "Quistis!" he called, trying to cast a Haste spell on himself so he could maybe, _maybe_ summon Ifrit. Then an armored opponent lunged at him, arms lockingaround him in a crushing embrace--and Zell dodged too late, and they stumbled, and they fell.

"Zell!" Quistis yelled--and caught only the fleeting tail glipse of him, weighed by the soldier, disappearing over the edge into the deep water below.

Irvine had been knocked to the deck and was trying frantically to get up, paralyzed for a moment unsure whether to try to aid Zell or defend himself. A stave came crashing down upon him, and for a moment the world went dark--

The water closed around Zell with an audible gulp, and the armored man didn't let go. Zell struggled, thrashing in the seawater, trying in vain and with rising panic to extract himself from the soldier's grasp. The world was darkening--they were going down, away from the light and the warmth of the sun and the breathable air into the cold crushing depths and try as he might not to panic completely his mind was drowned out in a chorus of _(No no no I don't want to die here I don't want to die here I don't want to **die**--)_

Strong hands grabbed his shoulder, clamped around his mouth. He was ripped from the soldier's arms in a great rush of water, what air hadn't escaped from his lungs already held in as cold fingers clamped shut his nose and mouth. The soldier fell away as someone bore Zell upward at surprising speed, clearing the surface with a splash, and forced him onto the deck. Someone called down a Meteor spell--then another--and a _third_, the huge stones missing the SeeD party as if they knew who was who. Another spell, and another, in an apparently interminable chain... Zell gasped and coughed up seawater onto the deck as the sounds of fighting stopped around him. Then someone was pounding him on the back, and he coughed.

"We thought we'd lost you," Quistis said from somewhere above him as he opened his eyes. As soon as he thought he could speak, he responded.

"Uh..." he swallowed. "Almost _did_." He glanced up at Irvine. "...thanks."

Irvine looked confused. "Huh? What did I do?"

Zell glanced at him. "You didn't jump in after me?"

"No," Irvine said, gingerly touching a bruise swelling beneath his battered hat. "I _wanted_ to, but I got hit..."

"Quist--?" Zell asked, turning to his former instructor.

"No," she said. "I couldn't even get to the edge. Then you cast Meteor, and--"

"I never cast meteor," Zell said. Quistis looked at Irvine.

"Neither of us did," she said.

"Then--"

"Wait a beat," Irvine said. "You have something on your back."

"What?" Zell said as Irvine picked it off and showed it to him. It was a silvery-blue scale the size of his palm, durable and hard glinting as if from some inner warmth--one that could only come from one creature that anyone could guess.

Zell looked at Quistis. Quistis glanced at Irvine, and back.

"Bahamut?" Zell said.


	10. No Easy Answers

X  
_ "There are no easy answers."  
--Anonymous_

* * *

"Ah, _shit_." 

Seifer cursed as he saw the road ahead. Almost halfway to Galbadia, it was the middle of the night. Squall was tired; the wounds on his head and side were throbbing, and Seifer seemed to have more reserves of stamina than should be humanly possible. But it was the rail ahead that provided the greatest dilemma: the raised tracks had broken and fallen several meters downwards. Squall gave a low, almost inaudible groan. "We'll have to jump it," Seifer continued.

"You're insane," Squall said, halfway under his breath. Seifer heard anyway.

"You think of a better way to get there? Maybe you want to go all the way back to FH and borrow a boat? Because _I_ really know how to row. And feel like it." He turned back to the rail, steeled himself, muttered something that sounded like "no fear," and jumped. Squall watched him land on the other side, then turn and beckon.

"C'mon," he called out. "It's not that hard. Unless you're _afraid,_ that is."

_(...this is moronic.)_ Squall had never turned down a challenge in his life--not from _Seifer_. That wasn't how you dealt with him. So, ignoring his side and imperfect balance, gathering all his waning energy, he jumped--

--and fell short, landing on the broken edge and slipping on the broken concrete. Within a second Seifer's gloved hand had latched onto the front of his shirt, and he pulled him onto the actual rail.

"God, you're clumsy," he sneered. "That's twice now I've saved your ass. Don't think I'm not keeping track."

"...thanks," Squall said darkly.

"Yah, I didn't expect any gratitude from you," Seifer said, releasing him. "This looks like a good spot, and _you're_ about to collapse. We'll camp here for the night."

_(It was time to set up camp for the night five hours ago,)_ Squall thought, and sat down with a touch of resentful gratefulness. Seifer, using a traditional match and dry wood, got a fire started in a clear spot on the rail. Soon it was crackling merrily, and Squall was glad to have something between him and Seifer. Even if it did cas unpleasant visual echos of the ill-fated Deling Parade--when he had learned that his archnemisis was escourting his mark, even though he was _supposed_ to have been executed. The first time he had glimpsed him had been through the blazing light of a torch.

"We'll start at first light tomorrow," Seifer said, firelight gleaming in his eyes like ambition.

_(Let's not and say we did,)_ Squall thought. _(Dammit, Seifer, I'm **injured**! You saw when it happened! Why don't you realize you can't just push me 'till I drop? Are you trying to **kill**_ _me?)_

The last thought stopped him. What if Seifer had brought him all this way to get rid of him? It made sense--_did_ it? Seifer could have let the Lieutenant kill him, but he hadn't. And when Squall missed his footing on the rail, Seifer had caught him. There were easier ways to make sure he was dead than walking all day and half the night and then murdering him in his sleep--or through exhaustion.

But the look in Seifer's eyes, the degrading sneer--it was frightening. It reminded him of the training session a year ago, the one that had left them both with scars. When Seifer had blasted him, sent him sprawling in the dirt with a wild flash of magic, then swung his gunblade at his rival--

It had been the first time Squall had ever seriously considered Seifer a personal threat, the first time he had ever honestly thought he might die. He hadn't, though; but he had been marked for life. The scar across his face would never go away.

Seifer hadn't gotten away unscarred that day, either. His mark was just as incriminating, just as lasting. Almost exactly the same as Squall's, but tilted the other way. Equal and opposite. Fitting, somehow.

Squall let his eyelids droop until Seifer thought he was asleep, and watched his enemy carefully. Seifer watched back, searching for the illusion. It was a standoff--unspoken, almost subliminal.

Squall began to drift. It was cold, but for the fire--dark, as well. The sea was lapping beneath them, gentle and mindless, a deep unbroken expanse. The bridge on which they sat was a thin silver line, fading and disappearing in the distance. His entire body wanted sleep.

His eyes drifted closed--but in the last moment of wakefulness, merging with the first scraps of dream, he saw something. A change came over Seifer, slowly--the facade dropped from Seifer's face. He didn't look predatory or hateful. He looked almost... melancholy. As Squall drifted off to true sleep he saw Seifer sigh, and close his eyes.

-

Seifer watched until he was sure Squall was asleep, and relaxed his scowl. Truthfully, he could have done without Squall's presence--could have done without the SeeDs' appearance in the FH battle. His rival was a valuable ally--he could realize _that_--but he was also an unpleasant reminder, a ghost of more terrible times. Ever since he had found himself at Balamb Harbor after Ultimecia's defeat, delerious, washed ashore with no idea where he was or how he had gotten there, he had wondered if he could ever go back. He didn't think so; las he had mentioned to Squall, they would kill him if he came within a kilometer. Some wounds were still too fresh.

He had spent a few days at Balamb, until the Garden had passed overhead one day. He had been fishing with Fujin and Raijin--Raijin had insisted, said that it would make him feel better. It hadn't. He was a lousy fisherman, and he hated being lousy at anything.

But Garden had flown overhead, whole and victorious, throwing everything he had done in his face--and then it had turned away from him. He had decided that Balamb wouldn't do, he had to move on to somewhere where there were no memories to assail him--somewhere where the academy wouldn't always be right there on the horizon, somewhere where he could breathe, and be alone. He had chosen Fisherman's Horizon, one of the most isolated spots on the globe. He had even turned in his weapons--an act which turned his stomach, made him feel as if he had cut every bit of himself away and become a walking memory of a man--watched Fujin and Raijin turn in theirs, and tried to settle down.

For a year, he had been trying.

Then the black army came, and Mayor Dobe had fortunately--eventually--been wise enough to see that an attempt to negotiate would be met with nothing but bloodshed. Turning to Seifer, Fujin, and Raijin to defend the town, he had put all his trust in them. No one had ever trusted him so much. Even Ultimecia had hemmed him in with orders and caveats, kept a tight eye on him to ensure that he didn't stray. With Ultimecia, he had been a dog on a leash. Mayor Dobe, Dobe the pacifist, Dobe the corner preacher, had made him a champion and commander.

Then, out of the blue, Squall and his team had showed up and started helping--even though they hadn't known he was there. Unwilling to face them, Seifer hid, and watched. When Squall had entered the showdown with the Lieutenant, Seifer had had an irrational burst of anger: how _dare_ Squall steal his glory! How _dare_ he play hero, like he alwasy did--how _dare_ he, when Seifer needed it so much more! But that had passed when he saw the Lieutenant's pole snap Squall's gunblade as if it was nothing, and send him nearly careening off the edge. For some reason, he couldn't let that happen. Maybe it was because he wanted to redeem himself. Maybe it was because he had to prove himself the better hero, the more admirable. Maybe it was because he didn't want Squall to die. He didn't honestly know.

Now he was going back to the place where the hell-nightmare had started, to the heart of the country he had once ruled. No, that wasn't right--he hadn't really _ruled_ anything. Everything he did was at the Sorceress's whim, and he couldn't break that control any more than he could voluntarily break his own neck. And why? Why was he following Squall? Dammit, it wasn't because he cared about the safety of Fisherman's Horizon. It was because he wanted to help Squall--wanted to repay some of what he had done to him. Wanted to turn from the villain he had been made into the hero, the knight, he had always _wanted_ to be.

It drove him insane.

Seifer sighed, closing his eyes. Concentrating on the sea breeze teasing his hair, he tried to forget all his troubles--for the time being.

-

Zell collapsed on the sleeping pallet in the conference room, staring up at the wall. His clothes hadn't quite dried yet, and they were uncomfortably chilly. Edea had decided to accompany them on their search after she had heard what happened to Squall, and was sharing the hanger with Quistis. Irvine, Nida, and Zell were all bunking in the conference room, on cheap, soft pallets they had bought in Balamb long ago and stashed for just such an emergency. The Ragnarok was landed safely at the Cape of Good Hope, and the night sky was darkening. However, no one was getting much sleep.

Zell was still wondering about his rescue earlier, turning Bahamut's scale over and over in his hand. And he remembered the time earlier when Squall had come running to his door, demanding to know where Leviathan was, thinking he had seen it in the Training Facility. Zell had laughed then, thinking--who knew? Maybe it was a new, prankster side of Squall that Rinoa had uncovered, or maybe simply a trick of the light or an odd hallucination Squall had seen; but he took the claim much more seriously now. He shuddered. It seemed the GFs _were_ acting strangely.

He had always thought GFs couldn't appear without being summoned, but is seemed he was wrong. It made a bit of sense, he thought, that the GFs could choose whether or not to appear. He had tried to juction Shiva once, then made mistake of trying to use her in combat--it had been an uphill battle all the way, a test of wills that Zell simply _could not_ win. Irvine had found him later, delerious, bleeding, arm fractured, and screaming obscenities at the ice-elemental GF. By that time the enemy he had been fighting had attacked him and gone, leaving him with the conviction that he would stick to using Ifrit.

So, if a GF could choose when _not_ to appear, wouldn't it make sense that it could choose when to appear? But if so, whay hadn't they before? What about all the GFs who died while they were being coaxed (or, perhaps, coerced) into appearing? Wouldn't it make more sense for them to just appear and get back inside a persons brain, safe? And why were the GFs suddenly so concerned about the safety of the person they were junctioned to? They never had been before.

_(Squall would know,_) Zell thought. _(He'd be able to tell. Like at the Shumi village, when he had to explain to us about the search for all those stones and the Elder's weird hand trick.  
(But... wait. If the GFs are suddenly protecting us, why didn't they save Squall? They were doing this before, because he saw one at the Training Center. They still are doing it, because Bahamut saved me. So why didn't anyone save Squall?)_

Resisting an urge to punch something, Zell closed his eyes. It would probably be best if he got some sleep, he knew, but there were just too many questions. Something big was happening, and Zell didn't like it when big things were happening and he didn't know about them. He liked it even less when he didn't know about them and they involved him anyway.

-

Laguna had given up questioning Diablos, complaining that his replies were more cryptic than a fortune teller's at a cheap carnival. As his eyes adjusted to the dark he found he could see a bit; not that there was much to see. Swirling clouds of varying degrees of blackness composed the background, and the silhouettes of Selphie and Rinoa were plainly visible. Diablos was marked by the firey gold orbs that were his eyes, and nothing else could be made out.

"I wonder what time it is?" Laguna thought out loud.

"There is no time here," Diablos said. "Only the time you bring with you."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Rinoa demanded, sniffing.

"Time moves at your speed now," Diablos said.

"What?"

Diablos fixed his baleful, molten eyes on Rinoa. "Five days have passed since you arrived." He turned to Selphie. "Two since you arrived." And he turned to Laguna. "You arrived this morning." There was a hint of wry self-pity in the voice when Diablos continued. "Your time, of course. In my time, I have already been here three eternities."

"So how do we get out?" Laguna asked.

The firey red eyes closed. "You do not get out. Someone else comes in."

And, try as he might, Laguna could get nothing more out of the Guardian Force.


	11. Premonition

XI _  
"**Only** a dream? Say this light is only the sun, or this ground is only the world, but never should you say this dream is only a dream."  
--__Shumi Elder, remark to a protege_

_

* * *

"Ah, my comrade, we have come at last to the end of our journey. And who can say? Perhaps we shall be remembered, in spite of all."_

_Squall was slumped over, knees digging into the muddy hillside. Just above him was a gleaming, black spire--a twisted outcropping of obsidian-hued stone, shining with darkness--not manmade, but so powerful any human would covet it. Guarding the spire was an abomination--a giant monster with a human's torso and head and the tail of a massive, black snake. Rank upon rank of armored soldiers stood behind him, not so much a part of the night as consumed and bound within it._

_"This is it, then," he heard himself say. "Funny. Never expected it to turn out this way."_

_A Voice spoke--and if it was the clouds, or the spire, or the army, he couldn't tell. "I shall defeat the barrier, my friend. I wish I had your strength, but it would not have mattered. It shall be you who must commit this deed."_

_"I've been looking forward to it all week," Squall said--a sort of dry, morbid humor that stuck on his tongue and in his throat. It tasted like dust. Like cold abandoned stone.  
_

_"My friend," laughed the Voice. "On occasion, death is only the beginning."_

_Squall pulled up his gunblade, struggling to his feet. Raising the--Hyperion?_

_Why did he have the Hyperion?_

_Where **was** he?_

_"Beginning?" he asked. "I doubt it."_

_"Then prepare for the end, my final comrade," the Voice boomed, cracking the world like thunder._

_There was a bolt of light from behind him, and--_

-

Squall woke to soft, pre-dawn light. The sun was creeping over the horizon, tinting the world with a gentle glow. Seifer was already up, sharpening Hyperion with a grooved rock he had pulled out of his pocket. Sparks drifted down towards the ocean and died, only to be replaced from the stone.

_(What was that dream...?)_ he shook his head. It seemed _familiar_, somehow...

"Glad to see you're up," Seifer said--usual sneer in place. "Ready to go?"

Squall nodded and got to his feet unsteadily, waiting as Seifer put his gunblade away. Glancing out over the horizon, he forced himself to put the dream out of his mind. Seifer started out briskly, showing none of the sluggishness Squall felt. After about a minute, Squall wondered how long he could keep the pace. It wasn't that he was tiring already, but it was even a bit faster than they had been going the day before. And there was still a long, _long_ way to go before they reached Galbadia.

Squall glanced at Seifer. Deling City would be the logical destination--if there was help to be gained in the nation, DC would be the place to find it. Would Seifer follow him into the capitol city itself? He was sure to be remembered there--as the Sorceress's Knight. They wouldn't welcome him back any more than Balamb Garden would. And to go back into Deling City, to face Rinoa's father... would he? Squall didn't know. He supposed it didn't matter, but the supposition was an uncomfortable one for reasons he couldn't quite explain.

"We'll have to hurry," Seifer said, pointing out to sea with his gunblade. Glancing out, Squall saw a dark blue blemish on the horizon. The ships were nearing.

Squall nodded, and tried to move faster, when Seifer held up hid hand again, motioning him to stop. "Look at the way they're moving."

Squall glanced, and, at first, could not make out anything. Then he saw--slowly, they were moving almost parallel to their course, heading to the coast of Galbadia.

"How far can a Slow spell reach?" Seifer asked.

"Not that far," Squall replied.

Seifer dropped the tip of his gunblade, cursing. "Then cast Haste on us," he said.

Squall nodded, concentrated, and cast it. Then Seifer took off at a jog and Squall followed grimly, side sending sharp complaints to his brain at every move.

-

"We should go to Deling City," Irvine suggested. "See if they have any more clues. Like a ransom note, or something."

"I still say we should be gearing up for war," Zell said. "I bet we'll have to bust in there and get them."

"We don't even know where 'there' is, Zell," Irvine retorted.

Nida looked up from the globe he was studying, and shook his head. "I'll bet a gil to a gold brick--well, not really--that it's the Centra crater," he said. "It says here there's a Demi draw point there--you know, right in the middle of nowhere?"

"Which has always been compelling reason to investigate," Quistis murmured.

"There are Demi draw points everywhere," Irvine said.

"Yeah, but Centra's always been creepy," Nida replied.

"Let's face it," Irvine said, dropping heavily into a chair. "We have no idea where they could be. Deling's the only place we've found any leads so far, so that's where we should go."

"What about Fisherman's Horizon? We actually saw Selphie there!"

"Yeah, and if you want to face off with all those thugs again, be my guest. They'll be ready the next time, and it didn't exactly work out well the _first_."

There was silence on the bridge. Quistis turned to Edea. "Would you have any ideas?"

Edea shook her head. "I've not been here since the beginning, but even so I would side with Zell. As with Ultimecia, these do not seem the type to be content with negotiations. But I would also advise to visit the girl's father again, in the hopes they may have found something."

Quistis nodded. "Nida," she said, "Set a course for Galbadia. We'll go to Deling City before we stop back at Garden."

"Al right," Nida said.

"I fear I will not be able to acompany you," Edea said. "The Galbadians would not welcome me."

"But we can't just leave you here alone," Zell protested.

"Uhmm..." Nida started.

"The only reason you came was so you'd be safe, right? We can't protect you if you're not with us!"

"I was saying--" Nida tried again.

"I mean, they could just come marching in here and--"

"_Hey_!" Nida snapped.

"Huh?" Zell said, turning to look at Nida.

"I'll be here," Nida said simply.

"What? _You?"_

"I _am_ a SeeD," Nida said with a slightly offended air. "Just because I fly most of my time doesn't mean I'm out of practice. I've gotten more assignments in the last three months than you have in the last year."

Zell looked at Quistis, then at Edea.

"I would feel quite safe with Nida here," the former Sorceress said.

"It's a good idea," Quistis said.

"All right," Zell said. "Can't argue, I guess. Let's just get going!"

-

Rinoa watched Laguna pace back and forth in the weird little room just tot he side of nowhere, trying to shake the feeling that she would never get out. She missed everyone, missed Zell's over-enthusiastic good nature, missed Quistis's too-mature presence, missed Irvine's coy, flirting one. But, most of all, she missed Squall.

She guessed he would be reverting back to his old, stoic self about now, guessed that her father had contacted him to find her, guessed that he would be taking the whole thing far too seriously. She sighed, it had been over eight months since she had seen him last, when she had gone off to meet with her father and try to reconsile with him. She wondered if Zell and Quistis were trying to keep the (relatively) open personality that she had uncovered, wondered if they were suceeding. Watching Laguna, she remembered the first four lines of the last two verses of a song--written about him, if what she knew was right; one called "Eyes On Me," that she had taken to heart in thinking of Squall:

_Darling, so share with me  
Your love if you have enough  
Your tears if you're holding back  
Your pain if that's what it is...  
...Darling, so there you are  
With that look on your face  
As if you're never hurt  
As if you're never down---_

(Squall is a lot like Laguna,) she thought. _(But he'd never admit it. "What, that moron?"__ then he'd give me that look, the one that tells me I'm going insane. I miss that look.  
(Of course, no one who didn't know him would guess. But they're a lot like each other, Laguna's just more open. Right?)_

Somehow, her thoughts drifted toward Seifer. If it wasn't for Seifer, she would have never met Squall. He was the one who had introduced her to Headmaster Cid, who had in turn dispatched the three SeeD members to help her resistance group, the Forest Owls, "until Timber gained independence". Squall had headed that group, accompanied by Selphie and Zell. From the start, not one thing had gone right.

Oh, their plot to hijack the train that President Deling had been on went perfectly--except that it wasn't President Deling on the train but an undead body-double whom they had ended up fighting. Then the President went to the TV station when Seifer busted in, held him at swordpoint--sword_blade_--and Zell had accidentally revealed the fact that they were from Garden on international TV. Then Seifer had run off with the Sorceress who had appeared, and from there, things just went downhill.

But, with the Sorceress's fall from power and General Caraway's ascention to leadership of the country and the recall from troops to defend the main cities of Galbadia in case one of the enemies that they had made decided to attack, Timber had gained independence. Up until then Squall had managed to hide his feelings for her under the polite lie that he was still under contract.

Not much had happened since then truthfully--nothing world-shattering, nothign for the history books. Irvine had transferred to Balamb Garden, and had passed his SeeD test in record time (though he'd had to take the written test three times before he got it). But the team that had defeated the Sorceress hadn't had much action--there were no missions so important that they couldn't send another group, and Garden preferred to hold them in reserve for the highest-paying clients, the ones who demanded the best. The heros. But then the odd, blue/black-armored men had come into Deling city and abducted her, placing her in Diablos's odd netherworld. Selphie had filled in what she knew, and Laguna what he knew. If Diablos knew anything, he wasn't telling.

Suddenly the room warped and shifted, interrputing her reverie, and an odd hole gaped open in one side. Thrust through the portal was an odd, robed, yellow-skinned alien: a Shumi. Its huge hands (one holding a tiny, round light) were flailing, and it was protesting loudly.

"Guard doesn't want to be here! Guard did nothing! Why are you--"

The dark hole closed, leaving the Shumi to wail at the darkness. Laguna looked over, and cleared his throat.

Guard looked over, then stepped back. "Master Laguna," he said, voice all shades of layered confusion. "Why are you here?"

"I don't know," Laguna said, blinking in the sudden light, decidedly brighter than the sickly stuff cast by Diablos's eyes. "We were all captured. What happened to you?"

The Shumi's face dropped. "Guard was guarding our Ultima draw point. A man in big armor walked in, and made several unreasonable demands. Guard protested, and was captured in a strong spell. I was brought here."

Laguna nodded. "The same thing happened to us, except with me, they were trying to get Ellone."

The Shumi brightened. "Ellone was found? Elder will be joyous to hear of this."

Laguna nodded. "Yeah, I found her in Esthar. This is Rinoa, daughter of General Caraway of Galbadia, and Selphie, a SeeD from Balamb Garden."

"SeeD?" the Shumi asked, practically glowing. "Master Squall is a SeeD! Do you know of Master Squall?"

Selphie nodded. "Yeah, I know him! I'm in his team."

Guard got even happier, if that was possible. "Guard is honored to be with Master Laguna and one who was with Master Squall," he said humbly.

"Heeeey!" Selphie said. "Maybe once we get out of here, I can take you to meet Squall!"

The Shumi made a sort of odd, shuffling dance. "Guard would be honored to meet Master Squall," he said happily.

"Do you have any magic?" Laguna asked. Guard nodded.

"Guard has many magics," he said, holding up the glowing sphere. Laguna smiled.

"Great," he said. "With this, we might be able to escape..."


	12. Enemies and Allies

XII   
_"While there maybe those willing to forgive all your many misdeeds, sir, these are all in the past and the past is not my concern. As a rule, I concern myself mainly with the present and the future. And I ask you: with any certainty, can I trust you **now**?"  
--General Caraway, question to Vinzer Deling's ex chief-of-staff  
_

_

* * *

_  
Squall and Seifer arrived at the coast of Galbadia quite a bit later, and many Hastes shorter. Looking back, they saw the black ships trailed behind by the narrowest margin, still steadily advancing. Four hours, maybe five, and they would be there. Not enough time to get to Deling City.

"Damn!" Seifer cursed fluently, a steady string that lasted all of ten paces, and looked ahead. His mood had been decreasing slowly but surely since that morning--Squall hadn't asked why, but he was sure this wouldn't improve it. "If they want to invade Galbadia they'll have to go through that valley," Seifer went on. "The one between those plateus. We can stop them there."

"They aren't just going to invade Galbadia," Squall said, realizing something. _(Damn! This isn't good..._.) "Look at the number of those ships. There are enough there to take DC _and_ Fishermans Horizon, with a force big enough for Dollet as backup. I think they'll try to reach FH on foot, since boarding them didn't work."

"What are you saying?" Seifer challenged.

"I'm saying that our planned ambush isn't going to work. The leader may be open to negotiation, but there's no way they'll be able to incapacitate that many soldiers, not with backup available. And they're coming for Galbadia, too."

"What?" Seifer demanded "Well, damn, it's good to see your plans are as foolproof as always, _Mr. Leader_--"

"Seifer," Squall snapped. "Save it for later. We have to figure out what to do."

"You mean you'll figure out what to do and play me the fool again," Seifer said.

"I mean--"

"I didn't hike all the way out here to hostile territory to find out you _screwed up_," Seifer snarled, glancing inland toward DC and then back to the ships. "What's the plan this time, Squall? Try to convince them to take a mass diving contest? Huh. _Ambush feast?_ I should have known--"

"What is _wrong_ with you?" Squall asked. "Look at the fleet! We have to hold them off!"

"What's _wrong_? I'll tell you what's _wrong!"_ Seifer yelled. "It's--_you_, Mr. Leader, Great Hero, you--lame _idiot_!"

_(What--_) Squall wondered, pretty he didn't want to know.

"You don't even realize, do you!" Seifer was shaking, now, hand clenched so hard around the gunblade hilt Squall thought one or the other was going to shatter. "You have everything I ever wanted and _you don't even realize!_ You were a damned _legend_ at Balamb Garden, even before this all started! Did you ever notice the looks you got when you walked by? How everyone seemed to know your name? All _I_ ever had was Fujin and Raijin! How long do you think I tried to get into SeeD, well? Then _you_ come and boom! You get in SeeD just like _that!_ And then when I finally get my dream, my _dream,_ you have to come in! And then Fujin and Raijin go off with _you,_ and then those SeeDs have the gall to make you their _leader..."_

_(Wonder where he picked up that little bit of information,)_ Squall thought, as the rest of his brain scrambled over the flurry of assaults and accusations. _(...whatever. We have to sort this out later. We don't have time for this...)_ "Seifer--"

"Shut up!" Seifer raged. "Just _shut up!_ I have had it up to _here_ with you--" he said, gesturing with the gunblade so violently that Squall thought he was about to cut his own head off. "I don't even know why I saved you! I should have let that Lieutenant kill you! That'd show everyone at Garden how great their little _commander_was!"

_(He's mad,_) Squall observed. _(He's mad at himself, and he's taking it out on me.)_

Seifer took his gunblade and threw it away, so that the tip buried itself in the ground and it stood up. "Come on!" he yelled. "Let's see how good you are!"

_(We don't have **time**,)_ Squall thought. Then he did the hardest thing he had ever done--he backed down.

"I don't want to fight you, Seifer," he said, turning away.

"What?" Seifer asked, unbelieving. "What do you mean? You coward!" he screamed. He didn't want to just tell Squall how he felt. He wanted to _hammer_ him.

Squall turned his back on him. The final insult.

"We have to get to Deling City," Squall said. He started walking, expecting that Seifer would fume all the way there, maybe even refuse to come--

--what he was _not_ expecting was the blow that caught him on the back of his neck and plowed him into the ground.

Rolling out of the way of a vicious kick, Squall managed to get to his feet again in time to ward off another punch when Seifer's knee caught him in the stomach. Another blow to the face sent him reeling in the dust, feeling the new cut open again as the bandage was ripped off. Staggering to his feet again, he slammed his fist into the soft spot just below Seifer's ribcage, hearing him hiss in pain.

Seifer kicked Squall again, anger mounting as the younger SeeD rammed his fist into Seifer's face. He wasn't supposed to be fighting, he was supposed to be screaming in pain! Seifer _wasn't_ going to lose, _couldn't_--the mere though that Squall might win, might come out on top, burst red behind his eyes. Seifer punched him again, catching him on the underside of the jaw. Kicking him hard in the stomach as he backed away, Seifer's eyes burned as Squall fell to the ground again.

Then he got up. It was infuriating--Squall just would _not_ give up!

_(Damn you! __Do you have to prove you're the best at **everything**?)_

The hard light in Squall's eyes made him even madder, and Seifer punched him again. Squall landed another punch at the base of Seifer's neck, and his head snapped to one side. Seifer hooked his foot behind Squall's ankles, tumbling him again, and kicked him hard in the side--savoring Squall's gasp and the bandage was nearly ripped off.

Squall got up.

was clibing to his feet when Seifer bent down, picked him bodily up by the front of his shirt, and threw him against a small rock outcropping. There was a sick, wet sound that his body made when it hit that played like music, like _vindication_, in Seifer's ears.

This time Squall didn't get up.

Seifer stood, incoherent thoughts rebounding inside his mind, hands clenchedand aching with the force of violence. Squall lay there, limp at the base of the outcrop, covered in dust and drygrass and little traces of blood. He stoof there, unable to keep himself from shaking with the adrenaline and the emotion--unable to slow his own breathing, to ignore the bruises he had taken.

Squall didn't get up.

The anger subsided--replaced with incomprehension. Squall wasn't moving. They had been fighting. Why wasn't he still attacking?--why wasn't he...

A low moan started somewhere deep in Seifer's chest, and he barely heard it. As quickly as he could bear--as slowly as he could manage--he made his way to his opponent, stared down at the battered form.

Grabbing Squall by the shoulder, he gave him a rough shake. Squall didn't respond. Grabbing the back of Squall's neck, he raised his head. Nothing.

_(Oh, no. Oh no oh no. Dammit, damn you to hell, don't you be dead...)_

Seifer's glove came away bloody.

Cursing, Seifer turned Squall over onto his stomach. Parting his hair, he saw that there was a sizeable cut at the base of his skull, bleeding heavily. Cursing again, Seifer looked around for something to staunch it with. Picking up the bandage that had been wrapped around Squall's forehead, he dusted it off as best he could and rolled it into a ball, which he placed behind the cut. It _seemed_ as if Squall was breathing, at least--though Seifer was still shaking, and couldn't be sure.

He rolled Squall onto his back again, as carefully as he could. Then, retreiving his gunblade, he sat on another rock and waited.

And waited.

The ships were drawing steadily closer, and he guessed they would be there soon. Squall hadn't woken up yet, either, and he was beginning to wonder if he really had killed him. Maybe it was his imagination that he was breathing, maybe--

There was nothing more he could do, so he just waited.

And he waited.

The ships were almost close enough to dock, Seifer guessed that they would be swarming the shores within the next half hour. He had begun pacing, wondering if he could possibly have picked a worse time to beat Squall up, mentally berating himself for losses of control too numerous to mention--

Then a loud drone filled the air, and he swung around.

The ships were still slowly making their way towards land--nothing had changed there. But, he saw, in the opposite direction from the ships, there was a reddish object slowly descending.

_(Is that--that's the Ragnarok!)_ Seifer nearly jumped. Looking at Squall, he wondered if he could drag him over. No, he didn't think it would be a good idea to move him, something he had read in preparations for a SeeD written test had told him. But--

Looking at the black ships, then the Ragnarok, he measured his chances with either one. The approaching army would smash him with greater ease than he might smash a bug, while with the crew of the Ragnarok he might at least have a chance to explain himself.

Quickly deciding, he grabbed his gunblade and ran for the airship.

-

Quistis stepped onto the dusty ground, chain whip at the ready. Zell followed, and Irvine followed him.

Quistis motioned out to she shoreline, hidden behind the bluffs. "It's unlikely that we'll be able to repulse the entire landing fleet," she said grimly, "but there's a chance we might be able to stall them, or find out their objectives. In any case--"

"Hey!" someone yelled, voice sounding far-away. "Quistis!"

Quistis jumped, turning to look down the hill. Squinting, she was able to make out a white trenchcoat.

_(No,)_ she thought. _(We have enough trouble. Please tell me that's not who I **think** it is...)_

The person ran up towards her, waving one hand above his head. "Quistis!" he called again, and the voice made her sure. Only one person could produce that mix of urgency and arrogance: Seifer Almasy, black sheep of Garden.

"You have nerve, coming up here," Quistis said as soon as he got close enough. Galbadia was _not_ an intelligent place for him to be, shouldn't he _know_ that? Seifer stopped in his tracks as Quistis snapped her whip in front of him--a warning shot. "This really isn't the best time."

"Just listen," he said.

_"YOU?"_ Zell had gotten over a bout of sudden shock and paralysis,

"Oh, don't act so surprised, chicken-wuss," Seifer snapped. "I don't have the time to be messin' around with you."

Irvine raised his gun to his shoulder. "Put down your weapon," he said.

"Damn it!" Seifer snapped. "I don't have time for this! I need you to come with me," he said, advancing towards them.

Quistis snapped her whip again, and he backed up. "We aren't going anywhere with you," she said. "We have rather urgent business to take care of here." _(And, merciful Hyne help me, if I find out **you're** involved with this... fiasco...)_

Seifer took a step towards Irvine. "Dammit! I'm not joking! I--"

"Back _off_!" Irvine yelled. Quistis's whip cracked and Seifer flinched back, raising both hands in a gesture half warding, half entreating.

"Damn you!" he raged. "Don't you ever want to see Squall again?"

_That_ stopped Quistis. "Squall?" she said, then shook her head. "Squall is dead," she said, painfully.

"No, he's not! But he's _going_ to be if you don't come!"

"You're lying," Quistis said, mind racing furiously. "How do we know we can trust you?"

Seifer took a step back, and threw his gunblade down so that it landed at Zell's feet. "Look," he said. "I'm--" he forced himself to say it-- "at your mercy. I can't do anything to you. Now will you please just _follow_ me!"

Quistis looked at Zell, then back at Seifer.

"It might be an ambush," Irvine said. "He might have the whole army back there."

"I--the hell! I'm _not_ on their side!" Seifer screamed at him. "And if you don't believe me then it's sure as hell _Squall's_ not, and if you don't come and they land _they're going to kill him_! Now will you _please_ just _come_?"

Quistis looked at Zell, who had taken custody of the gunblade. He nodded--cautiously. She looked back to Seifer, hand on her whip.

"All right. Lead the way."

Seifer turned and started down the hill, when Zell reached around and put the gunblade to his neck. Grabbing Seifer's arm with his free hand, he said, "If you're lying--"

Seifer paused in his tracks. _(Being held up by chicken-wuss...)_ he thought. "Let me go," he said, "or I won't show you."

Zell looked at Quistis, who looked worried and, somehow, hopeful at the same time. She nodded, and Zell took the gunblade away from Seifer's throat. Pushing him forward, he put the point at his back. "Don't try anything."

"I _won't,"_ Seifer snarled.

"Zell," Quistis said.

Zell dropped the gunblade's tip. "Fine. Move it."

"I'm moving, I'm moving," Seifer grumbled. _(And this is the very, very last time I'm **ever** letting **you** order me around, Dincht.)_

As soon as Quistis saw the black-clad figure lying near the railroad tracks, she broke into a run to kneel at his side. Taking advantage when Zell paused, Seifer grabbed his gunblade back and straightened his coat.

"See?" he asked. "I told you, but nah, no one wants to believe _me_."

"Uh, oh," Irvine said. "Zell, we're going to have company really quick here."

Zell looked at the ships, and ran toward Quistis. Irvine followed, forgetting Seifer for the moment.

Quistis stood and looked at Irvine "We need to get him back to the Ragnarok," she said.

"Quistis," Irvine said. "Look at the shore."

Quistis looked over, and paled. "...They're coming," she said.

_(Like I said--_) Seifer thought.

"What the hell did you do to him?" Zell yelled at Seifer.

"Nothing permanent," Seifer called back. "I hope," he added under his breath.

"People," Irvine said. "We need to get out of here, unless we feel like fighting with wounded!"

"We can't move him like this," Quistis said. "We need a stretcher."

"Do you _see_ a stretcher anywhere around here?" Seifer retorted.

"...we can't fight all of them," Zell said. "There's--there's _a whole lot of them_!"

The first ship slid up to shore, beaching itself. There was a pause as it extended a long plank to the ground. Quistis blinked: she hadn't realized quite how tall the ship was. The one she had boarded hadn't been nearly as large.

They were getting progressively larger, progressively stronger. That wasn't a good sign.

"Irvine," she said. "Give me your coat."

"What?" he asked.

"Your _coat_, Irvine. _Give me your coat!_"

Irvine shrugged sliding out of his camel trenchcoat. "You want my hat, too?"

Quistis spread the coat out next to Squall. As gently and as quickly as she could, she moved Squall so that his head, neck and shoulders were supported by the coat.

"Zell, grab his legs," Quistis instructed. "Irvine, you handle the coat. I'll stall the army." _(Don't expect me to be able to for long.)_

Irvine bent to pick up his coat, while Zell grabbed Squall's legs. Quistis turned away from them to the ships. Focusing as well as she could, she thought _(Eden...)_

Seifer put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her away and breaking her concentration. Rounding on him angrily, Quistis demanded "What are you doing?"

"Keeping you from getting yourself killed," Seifer said as he pulled her towards the Ragnarok. Quistis ducked out from under his arm, and faced him.

"I can take care of myself," she snapped.

"Not against _that,_" Seifer said, pointing to the mass of people on the shore. Quistis shook her head.

"Eden could get them all," she said.

Seifer drew his gunblade. "Then I'm staying with you," he said.

"What!"

Seifer ignored her outburst. "If you're going to be idiotic enough to try this, you'll need someone to make sure no one kills you while you're summoning. _I_ can't think of a better person than me."

The people were getting closer. Quistis glanced at them with growing concern.

"You're going to get yourself killed, you know that?" she said.

"And so are you," Seifer replied evenly.

Quistis hesitated, for a second, torn between wanting to slow the army and the irrational wish to keep Seifer alive. Why? _Why_ did she want to protect him? It made no sense.

"Make a choice, Instructor," he said, stretching his blade arm out into his classical fighting stance. "Isn't that your favorite advice?"

He actually looked as if he was going to take on the entire army.

_(Make a choice,)_ she told herself, echoing Seifer's words. Then she turned, grabbed Seifer's sleeve, and pulled him towards the Ragnarok.

-

"Back to Garden?" Nida asked, glancing at Seifer but directing his query towards Quistis. "Are you sure that's... uh, _wise_?"

Quistis nodded. "We need to get Squall back to the infirmary," she said.

"But--" Nida looked at Seifer again, unsure of what to say.

"He'll be coming with us," Quistis said.

"But--" Nida turned back to the controls, shrugging. "Never mind. Your decision, I guess. But we should do something about that army."

"Just go. Boot up the radios. I'll contact General Caraway to mobilize the Galbadian Army," Quistis planned.

"And Fisherman's Horizon?"

"We can hit the intercontinental railroad," Quistis said, looking at he thin grey line in the distance and the black swarm slowly moving across it. "No one uses that thing anyway, and it _will_ stop them."

Nida nodded. "All right. Will someone who's not Seifer please take the weapons controls?"

"Up, Seifer," Irvine said, gesturing with his hand. Seifer stood up and moved out of the way, smirking thinly to disguise his continually bruised ego. The Ragnarok rose gently off the ground, turned, and headed for the railroad. "Arming main beam cannon," he said. Then, looking out the forward window, he added "What's the range of this weapon?"

"It didn't exactly come with an instruction manual," Nida said. Irvine shrugged.

"Firing."

The beam of energy flew out, decimating the bridge in front of the army. Several meters of bridge shuddered and fell, taking a fair number of soldiers with it. Somehow, Irvine found it hard to feel bad about the casualties.

"Heading back to Garden," Nida said, setting the Ragnarok into full speed.

-

The Commodore Suite was as crowded as it ever got.

Squall was stretched out on the floor, breathing shallowly under the influence of several Curagas. Quistis knelt next to him, staring as if trying to convince herself that he was alive--that he was solid, that he was _there_. Zell leaned against the wall, holding a similar vigil. Overall, silence reigned.

"Man, I feel stupid," Zell remarked at length.

"What do you mean?" Quistis asked, glancing up at him. Zell stared at Squall, scratching his head absently.

"This is going to make for a pretty lousy report, you know? I mean, 'well, we killed most of the army in FH, then we went to convince Ellone you were dead, then we moped for a bit, then--' "

Quistis sighed, brushing an errant strand of hair off Squall's face. "We didn't handle that very well, did we?"

Zell chuckled, low beneath his breath. "Quist--we thought he was _dead_. I'm not sure I'd _want_ us to handle that well."

Quistis smiled gently--then paused. "What do you think about Seifer?"

"Seifer?" Zell asked. "Don't trust him, never have, never will. We should ditch him ASAP, preferably over the ocean. Maybe while we're still going fast."

Zell's words were harsh, but his voice belied them. It said, clear as anything, _I don't know_. "Mm," Quistis said. "I'd like to know what he's up to."

Zell made a face. "Remember the Lunatic Pandora? 'I've always gotta be doing something _BIG!'_ As if he could ever get anything to match his ego. Anyway, I don't want to be around when he starts his next little plot."

"Not even to keep an eye on him?" Quistis asked. Zell shook his head.

"Not even." He looked up at the ceiling, but his voice was less than decisive. "Not _even..."_


	13. Odd Behaviors

XIII  
_"Eccentricy is often a mask for intellegence."  
--Anonymous_

* * *

Waking up in the Garden infirmary, with the overwhelming whiteness flooding his vision to resolve only slowly into sterile walls and fluttering curtains, Squall had a sudden uncomfortable sense that he had skipped back a year. This time, however, the wound wasn't on his forehead--it was at the base of his skull, it was in his side, it was a score of aching bruises across his body. He tried to sit up, but, almost immdeiatly, Dr. Kadowaki was there to push him back down. 

"Good to see you're awake," she said. "Say your name for me."

"Squall," Squall answered, wincing at what was probably a concussion.

"Your eyes are focusing," she said, smiling down at him. "Glad to see it. You shouldn't move too much. That's a nasty cut you have."

Squall looked around the infirmary. "How long have I been out?" he asked.

"Only a few hours," Kadowaki said. "It's eight o'clock local time. Night, not morning." She gestured needlessly to the window above him.

"Where--"

"The Garden is outside Balamb, as per usual. You want me to call Quistis for you?"

Squall grunted and shrugged, leaning back and staring at the ceiling.

"You're quite lucky, you know," Kadowaki said. "Everyone here thought you were dead. I hear that girl--Ellone, I think?--was... pretty torn up about it."

_(Ellone knows?)_ Squall wondered how many people he would have to explain his continued existance to. It would be... awkward.

"Quistis?" Kadowaki asked into the Garden phone. "Yes, he's awake. He'll be fine. He should rest for a bit more--what? No, I don't think he will either. Well, make sure he takes it easy. All right," Kadowaki put the phone down and adressed Squall. "Be more careful from now on, hear?" she asked, then tactfully left the room.

As soon as she left, Squall sat up again. He felt light-headed and dizzy, but he ignored it. Hauling himself up to his feet with the aid of the bedside table, he tried to gain at least an appearance of dignity before Quistis came in.

The door slid open, and Quistis moved in. She looked nearly dead on her feet.

"Quistis," he started, concern flashing in his eyes--not only for her, but for whatever circumstances had driven her not to sleep in what looked ot be a fortnight. "Are you--"

"I'm fine, Squall," she said, smiling. "Worry about yourself for once."

"Has anything happened?" he asked. Quistis nodded.

"Yes--quite a lot. But first, are you alright? We all thought you were dead."

"So I hear." He shifted, tried to ignore the aching side wound and the way she was blurry around the edges. "I'm perfectly fine."

Quistis shook her head--but, if anything, she smiled a little more. "You're lying."

_(Fine, Quistis. Fine. I have a pounding headache, I'm dizzy, faint, and tired, I need to eat something, and my side hurts like hell,)_ he thought. _(But none of that is **relevant** right now.)_ "I'm fine," he said again.

Quistis shrugged. "You scared the hell out of us all, you know that? When we found your gunblade, we really believed you were dead."

"I nearly was. ...Seifer pulled me out." It felt odd to say. Not quite right, somehow. Seifer had never been the type to _save_ people--especially not Squall. Squall was more used to thinking that he was about to die at Seifer's hands than in spite of them.

Quistis seemed just as surprised. "What?" she asked.

_(...**and** Seifer hasn't been bragging. What's come over him?)_

"When I went to the teir to confront the Lieutenant, he attacked me. He broke my gunblade, and nearly killed me. Seifer stopped him."

Quistis stared at Squall in disbelief. He had said it normaly enough--without detail, without dwelling on any part, utterly frank and forthright--but to hear Squall giving Seifer credit for anything was... unsettling on a level she couldn't quite place. She was _trying_ not to think of Seifer as The Enemy--but to hear Squall give himthe credit of an _ally_? "And he then proceeds to beat you senseless."

Squall grimaced, and Quistis winced at her own bluntness. "I think I made him mad," Squall said.

_(You **think**_, _Squall?)_ Quistis wondered at him. _(You must have driven him into a blind rage! Even **Seifer** generally has more control than...)_ A thought occured to her. "Are you defending him?"

"No," Squall replied evenly.

Quistis shook her head. "I don't think I understand this. Anyway, I should tell you--some very odd things have been happening concerning the GFs."

At once, Squall was more attentive. This was obviously a topic he was more interested in discussing than Seifer's unusal behaviour. "Like what?"

Quickly, Quistis breifed him on what had occured since they had been separated. Though Squall gave no indication that he was surprised at any of it, he did remain silent for several seconds afterwards. Then he began to explain what had happened at Fisherman's Horizon, and why the armies were probably after it. "But with what you just told me," he said, "I think I know what they want with Rinoa and Ellone, as well."

"What?" Quistis leaned forward.

"Well, aside from each's respective powers, each one is very close to the leaders of one of the two most powerful countries in the world. They would be able to... emotionally incapacitate the commanders of two major military powers." He grimaced--Quistis watched him, wondering if he was adding himself and Garden as a third to that number.

She nodded. "Makes sense. But why not just capture the leader?"

"Because someone else would take over until they would found. It would be preferable to have the usual leader with his judgement compromised than have a replacement in complete control. ...Esthar and Galbadia are also the closest powers to Fisherman's Horizon. It would be hard for FH to call for reinforcements if they were invaded."

Quistis nodded. "I guess it makes sense, then," she said. "But they didn't get Ellone. They got Laguna."

"Which is probably for the best--Esthar should be safe enough under Kiros's lead. I assume Kiros is the one who took over?"

"Kiros and Ward are running Esthar until Laguna is found," Quistis said.

"Good. Then I'd suggest--"

"I must zee him!" demanded a voice from outside the room. "It iz of urgency!"

Squall glanced at Quistis, who glanced at the door with a confused expression on her face. Neither one had more than the faintest idea of what was going on.

"Don't tell me--" Squall started, when a short little man with an outragiously large red and white ruff around his neck stepped into the room, followed by Kiros in his normal battle garb.

"Odine?" Quistis asked. The little man nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes! It iz me, Odine, with another dizcovery!"

"How did you know I was here?" Squall asked Kiros. Kiros shrugged.

"We came to see Quistis, but once the little guy learned from Kadowaki that you were here, there was no stopping him."

Odine turned on Kiros angrily, balling both hands into fists and starting to jump up and down. "Vhat? Vhat iz zis 'little guy?' You speak of ze magnificent Odine? You vant to go outside?" he asked. Kiros shook his head.

"Not now, doctor."

Odine turned back to Squall. "Egh. Vonce I heard about zis use of Demi, I investigated. Guess vat I found?"

Squall shook his head. "Just tell me."

Odine looked a little disappointed. "Vell. Zis iz executed vith ze most careful precision. Very vell studied. And! It iz not just Demi they use. They use Demi and _shell_!"

Squall didn't quite understand. He glanced at Kiros, who shrugged.

Odine stamped his foot once. "See, there iz this world," he gestured to something Squall couldn't see, "And there iz the other world. To get between the two, you use a Demi spell. But there iz more! The Demi spell iz hard to get through! It iz too powerful to traverse without help! You vant to know why?"

Squall nodded.

"It iz because of ze black hole!" Odine said proudly. "It would rip ze traversing object apart! So they use a very strong shell--tventy-three times as powerful as yours--to get past it! Because ze interference pattern of ze shell, in conjunction vith ze Demi..." he trailed off. "Zis is zcience. You vould not understand. But it iz tventy-three times ze amplitude! Ze magic number! Tventy-three!"

Squall shook his head. "What?"

"You would need tventy-three combat shells to get past ze Demi spell," Odine said again. "Twenty-three for each person! Twenty-three for each way! In a very tight layer, no overlap, no space between! It iz very hard to attain."

Squall did the calculation in his head. "That would take ninety-two spells to go in and send two people back," he said.

"Exactly!" Odine said. "But zey use ze Demi spell much, and zey never run out of Shells. You vant to know vhy?"

Squall nodded again. Odine was obviously enjoying his role.

"It iz ze armor! It iz a very powerful shell! And zere are prezicely tventy-three Shell Stones in ze hand: enough to bring one person to or from, but not both! Zis iz how they capture, use ze stones to bring the person, and ze armor to leave!"

"Then it might be useful," Squall said, "to get some armor."

Odine started jumoing again, this time happily. "Odine has ze armor!" he said. "And _you_ vill test it out!"

"Doctor--" Kiros said. "This hasn't been tested. It's an interesting theory, but--"

"You vould call Odine a fool?" Odine asked, turning to his tall companion. "Ze equations are sound. And you are stupid."

"I'll do it," Squall said.

"What?" asked Kiros.

_"What?"_ demanded Quistis.

"I'll try it," Squall said, facing Quistis squarely. "If there's any way to save them, we have to try."

"Squall--" she began. "There's something Odine isn't telling us."

Odine looked at her. "How you know that? Yes, Odine has one more discovery!"

"What?" Squall asked.

"Ze armor? It iz a very powerful device. It lets ze vearer gain almost... _infinite_ power zhen charged, but it takes much power to charge. The equivelent of one _hundred_ zeventy-five Ultimas!"

"And?" Quistis prompted, reading Odine as skillfully as she read Squall.

"That iz it," Odine said in a painfully false lie. Then he began jumping again. "Okay, zat vas lie. See: ze inside of ze armor hasa jacket vith a very complex array of junction vires. Ze energy activates zese--so, vith more power, the vearer falls more under ze control of the master of zis army! Zis master, he supplies his army with ze infinite power, and zey are infinitely loyal! It vould take someone with great vill-power to even _think_ of resisting ze leader! Marvelous! Original! Zis vill give me enough research for ten papers!"

Quistis sat down on a nearby bed with a _thump._ "Squall," she said, looking at the leader of Balamb Garden. "You _can't_ do this. We can't risk it."

Squall shook his head. "We can't _not_ risk it," he said. "Whoever is doing this is planning for something big. We have to start foiling his plans, or it's going to balloon into another Ultimecia."

"You think it will get that bad?"

Kiros cleared his throat. "I'm not gonna say I'm in favor of this, but I don't see that we have much choice," he said. "Let's not forget that this person's already captured the president of Esthar, not to mention protected figures in Galbadia and Garden. It wouldn't have to be another Ultimecia. I'm just as worried about another Adel."

Quistis looked down. "All right," she said--and then, to Squall, "But not until you're healed. And try it without the armor first."

"Marvelous!" Odine yelled. "And Odine will be there, to vatch! Marvelous!" turning, the short, eccentric man ran out of the room. Kiros, with an apologetic gesture, ran after him.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Quistis asked Squall, a concerned expression on her face. Squall nodded.

_(Do we really have a choice? We have to to get them back.)_ "Yes."

"Then I guess I can't stop you," Quistis said, standing up. Giving Squall a quick hug, she stepped back. "Get some rest," she said. "We'll talk about strategy."

Squall nodded, and stared at his bed. Trying not to wonder what he had gotten himself into, he went to sleep.

-

It was deep night when Squall woke again. Garden was asleep at this time of night--an enforced curfew ensured that SeeDs got their rest, keeping the hallways outside the Infirmary quiet and still. Squall was restless--he always was, when injuries confined him to bed. There was only so much lying down one could take before one had to get up, move, do _something_.

Fortunately, he reflected as he slipped out from the pristine Infirmary coverlets, his injuries this time around weren't debilitating. Kadowaki had retired for the night--the infirmary was barren and silent without her watch.

Stepping out of the infirmary, Squall glanced around to note that the Faculty didn't seem to be in their usual positions. There was no one guarding the halls. _(Odd,)_ he thought. Maybe they were having a test? He could remember days like that--scattered sporadically through the year, always unexpected. Almost every junior classman in the Garden would be tempted to explore the areas technically off-limits, and, invariably, those who followed through on the temptation would be caught and reprimanded. It was an official practical joke--meant to weed out people who couldn't obey rules and directives.

But, as Commander of Garden, Squall was immune to most of the rules. He could go wherever he wanted.

_(The Quad,)_ he thought. It would have fewer people than the training center, test or no test.

Walking along the hallways, Squall noted that there were conspicuously few people. Those that were out--junior classmen, of course, who hadn't heard from older SeeDs about the test or were stupid enough to try their luck anyway--paled and ducked down the nearest hallway as soon as they saw him coming. It was almost amusing.

The Quad was quiet--no one seemed to be there. Tree leaves rustled quietly in the evening night wind, causing the shadows to dance across the floor. Glancing around, Squall made for the lower level. It was even wider than the plaza up here, and open to the air--but the illusion of solitude was stronger, and it had always been a comforting sense.

A noise caught his attention, and he glanced around. Stepping back a pace, he stared at a figure hithero-unnoticed--Seifer was leaning over the edge of the balcony, looking down at the ground below.

For a moment, it gave Squall pause.

Then he noticed how Seifer was standing, shoulders hunched up around himself, moving irrythmically back and forth with tremors that looked to be barely contained.

"Seifer?" Squall asked, watching his rival with a curiosity that wasn't quite sympathy, but wasn't wariness, either.

Seifer spun around, staring at Squall with the same sort of expression Squall would expect from a caged and beaten wolf. Within seconds, however, he had the emotion--whatever ti was--dampened down. His eyes were rough and red--he looked as if he had been either drunk or crying, one unlikely and the other nigh-unthinkable. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I could ask you the same thing," Squall replied.

"You don't need to know," Seifer growled. "I just needed some time out."

Squall nodded. _(Right.)_ "Whatever."

"You don't believe me?" Seifer asked, and Squall only watched him. There was something going on with Seifer--what, he wasn't sure. Just that he was acting quite unlike the Seifer he had fought and known.

"Should I?"

Seifer turned away from Squall, looking out over the scenery. "Would you if you should?"

_(I feel like a diplomat,)_ Squall thought. _(Dancing around the point so much that eventually I forget what it is.)_ "What are you doing here?" he asked again, bluntly.

"Breathing. Standing. Talking to you," Seifer snapped. "What does it look like?"

"And?" _(There has to be a reason you're here.)_

Seifer turned around. "Welcome to Garden," he said. "Great place, really. Wonderful hospitality. Between the friendly greetings in the hall and the very _generous_ promises of slow, painful death, I'm surprised _anyone_ wouldn't want to stay here."

"You can't expect them to welcome you," Squall reasoned.

"Of course not. Why should they? I'm _Seifer."_ His voice held more bitterness than Squall had ever heard out of him.

Squall made an odd, half-shrug. "No one is used to you being here."

"Yeah, and I never planned on living the thousand years that would take," Seifer snarled.

"It wouldn't take that long," Squall said.

"You don't think?"

Squall shrugged, gesturing meaninglessly with one hand. "They're SeeDs. They'll see pragmatics eventually."

"_Oh_." Seifer spat the word. "So I'm a pragmatic now. Well, I guess that's a step _up_."

Squall exhaled. "There isn't any point in holding grudges."

"Enlightened, aren't we?" Seifer asked. He walked up, close enough to bowl Squall over if he took another two steps. "Seen the light? Got eternal peace of heart and mind? Somehow I don't think Garden is going to be so _forgiving_."

He stood over Squall, glaring down at the Commander and scowling.

"But no, you're right, _as always_." He stuck out his hand. "Let's make up, right here. Put all of this behind us. Deal?"

Hesitantly, Squall took it.

Seifer shook his head, tightening his grip on Squall's hand until the SeeD could practically feel the bones rubbing together. Still he tightened it, until Squall almost winced. Seifer had the strength to crush every bone in his hand, he knew--but he wasn't going to show weakness, wasn't going to back down. He said nothing.

"It doesn't work like that," Seifer hissed into his face. "It just doesn't work. People don't just forget."

The pressure on Squall's hand tightened, and his nerves screamed. He gritted his teeth. _(Let **go**...)_

With a final, wrenching twist, Seifer spun away and stalked towards the hall. Squall grabbed his hand, trying to massage some of the feeling back into it. _(What was that about?_) he wondered, turning to see Seifer disappearing into the hall.

There was a flicker of green-gold from above, flashing like lightning, and a vague sense of saddened disappointment flooded Squall's mind before seeping out with as little explanation as it had come. The emotion was obviously not his, but he couldn't place where it _had_ come from.

Squall looked up. There weren't any clouds in the sky, weren't any on the horizon on behind the curve of Garden. The stars fluttered weakly, as they always had. There was no lightnign in the midnight black.

Putting the mystery out of his mind, he headed back to the infirmary before Kadowaki could find out he had been missing.


	14. To Arms

XIV_  
"I just think... it's kinda ominous, don't you? Right there, right in the word 'soldiers,' it says 'die.' I just think it's a little creepy, is all."  
--President Laguna Loire  
_

* * *

Squall woke to the sound of klaxons screaming like demons through Garden's halls. 

_"Battlestations,"_ ordered the voice over the intercom, battlezone-calm. _"All hands to your assingned battlestations. This is not a drill, repeat, __**not **a drill."_

Squall sat up immediately, reflexes taking over as he slid out of bed and reached on instinct for his weapon. It took him a moment, looking around the infirmary, to realize exactly where he was.

Doctor Kadowaki stepped in. Looking him directly in the eye, she said "I just checked with Quistis, you're not needed on the bridge. You're to stay here, safe. We don't need _you_ getting wounded again."

"Garden is being attacked?" Squall asked. "By who?"

_"Sounds_ like that army," Kadowaki said as she headed into the back room. "It seems they have another mobile building, like our Garden. Don't worry, Squall--" she returned with a pile of sheets, readying the infirmary for incoming injuries. "You've trained these people well. They're ready for this, now."

If she had been trying to be reassuring, it wasn't working. Squall was confident in the training he had instated--necessary, after the Galbadia Garden invasion in the last year, a battle marked on Balamb Garden's side more by mass confusion and panic than organized resistance. But he was commander of Garden for emergencies just like these--and being confined to bed in the infirmary, even if it _was_ standard procedure for wounded, left a sour twist at the back of his stomach.

A group of seven students, still in their cadet uniforms ran in, saw him, stopped and saluted. "Emergency Medical Team reporting, sir!" the first one said.

Squall returned the salute. "Report to Doctor Kadaowaki," he said. They nodded and ran towards the back room.

Squall spent several minutes pacing before the first casualties began to stream in. Most were bearing cut or bullet wounds, though a few showed bruises and what appeared to be clawmarks. Only a few at first, they soon increased in numbers.

Squall fidgeted impatiently--tried to perform some useful task, tried to gague the strength of the army and glean what information he could by mere observation. It didn't help.

Then the first messages began to come over the intercom.

_"Nida to the bridge, repeat, Nida report to the bridge. Zell and Irvine, report to the Quad."_

Moments later--

_"Quitsis Trepe to the entrance, repeat, Quistis report to the entrance."_

_(Great,)_ he thought, restlessness rising. _(Garden is being taken--and I'm stuck in here with wounded and noncombatants!)_

Then the unwounded began to come into the infirmary, yelling. A huge, black-armored form pounded after them, weilding a blade longer than Squall's leg. The mass of students caught him in the hall's bottleneck and felled him, and Squall got his first glance of what was happening--a black mass was advancing down the hall towards the infirmary. Why, he didn't know. There were other, better targets.

Unless--

_(Unless this is how it is everywhere.)_

Turning, Squall saw that Kadowaki was so busy with the wounded that she hadn't been bothering to watch him. Reaching down, he grabbed the enemy's long blade. It was a heavier than he was used to, and he doubted he would ever get used to the lack of a trigger, but it seemed powerful enough.

The next wave of the army reached the door, and a well-aimed Ultima spell cleared the hall. Pointing to three of the students, Squall said "You three, follow me." They saluted, and followed him as he charged out.

He hadn't ordered them out without taking stock of their weapons--a blade, a long lance, and something that looked like an overlarge, one-barreled shotgun. Not ideal--a battering ram would have been ideal, or possibly a tank--but good enough.

_"Will all available hands report to the second floor deck, repeat, will all available hands report to the se--"_ the intercom message was cut off abruptly. They reached the end of the hall, and, suddenly, Squall and his team were flighting through a solid mass of soldiers. Squall couldn't weild the blade as well in such tight quarters, and the man with the lance was almost completely useless. The gunman was firing randomly, most of his shots going towards the ground. _(Hand to hand training,)_ Squall thought to himself. _(I knew I forgot to incude something in those drills. Maybe I could expnand SeeD's basic lessons--this isn't the time!)_

There was a roar from somewhere nearby, a staggering wave of heat, and Squall caught a glimpse of a red-maned form to his right, near the directory. _(Ifrit,)_ he thought. _(Zell must be somewhere over there.)_

"Let's get to the entrance hall," Squall said, leveling an Ultima spell at the nearest group of soldiers. Three Flare spells appeared almost in unison just beyond the Ultima spell, and Squall wondered where the students had gotten such high-level magic. Almost immediately the gap was filled with more soldiers, and Squall took a moment to wonder where they were all coming from.

There were angry yells from his back, and Squall turned from dispatching an enemy to see that he had been cut off from his team. Managing to get his back up against the wall of the catwalk above the Garden stream, Squall tried to hold his own against the mass of soldiers pressing in on him from all sides.

There was a yell from his right, and Squall glanced over to see a tiny, robed green figure cutting through the troops. In one hand it held a lantern, in the other it held a chef's knife--dripping with some black ichor that might have been blood, but probably wasn't. _(Tonberry,)_ Squall recognized. Half a human's height with huge yellow eyes, the thing would have been laughable if it wasn't so deadly. Weilding the chefs knife expertly, it was carving a path through the army with unnerving ease.

A flash burst stars in his vision, and he dodged on instinct. The hallway bucked, and as his vision cleared he found that the catwalk wall had disintigrated, and the carpet on which he stood was tearing off into the water below--

He didn't have time to leap to safety. It was all he could do to gasp in breath before he was underwater, pulled down by the weight of the sword and his suddenly waterlogged clothes.

Forcing his eyers open in the water, he saw three soldiers advancing on him ponderously, bubbles escaping in streams from cricks and crevices in the dark armor. Adjusting to his new weight and buoyancy, he swung the sword--and it sliced through the armor as if the men were clad in butter. Red blossomed from the wound, clouding the water.

_(Air_--

Kicking upwards with as much force as he could muster, Squall broke the surface gasping before one of the armored soldiers pulled him back down. Bringing the heavy blade down on his enemy's head as he sunk, Squall kicked the dead body away from him and headed to the surface again. Then the next one was on him--swinging his sword in a wide arc. Squall pushed his way backwards, under the entrance hall catwalk, and tried to surface on the other side just as the soldier fumbled and collapsed, breath exhaused.

Squall glanced at the catwalk, deciding against climbing up--a difficult task during which he would certainly be defenseless--as three more soldiers jumped in after him. One held a heavy, two-bladed axe whose blade was wider than Squall was, and he weilded it like a master. Suddenly all four combatants were literally frozen in place as a sheet of ice coated the water's surface and the catwalk above, then shattered and disappeared. Squall caught a glimpse of blue skin--Shiva. _(Which means Quistis.)_

A hard stab dispatched the soldier to the axe-weilder's right, and Squall swung at the axe-weilder himself. The two armored men were driving him backwards, up against a wall underwater. Another quick break for air and Squall killed the sword-bearing one, leaving him and the axe master alone. Taking another, deep breath, Squall pushed himself into a side passageway--the route to the training center.

The armored form came in after him, blocking the light. Squall tried to move backwards in the water, holding his blade out at the ready. When he decided that the man was certainly drowned, he turned and ran to reach the other end of the passage.

He met a wall. Without light, he couldn't tell if it was the end of the passage or just a corner. Feeling his way along, he came to another open area; it had been a corner. Three steps, then another wall and what felt like a grille. The grille, half again as large as Squall was, was open, and Squall forced his way through. He was running out of air.

_(Concentrate,)_ he told himself. _(Concentrate or you'll never make it out.)_

He could feel pressure building up from the way he came, and half-turned when hard armor rammed up against him. He could feel the axe biting into his leg, not deep, but painful. Fighting blind panic and the impulse to breathe, Squall began to hack at the figure with his stolen sword as the soldier kept pushing him along the waterway, axe jerking spasmodically. Bubbles began escaping from Squall's mouth, and he wondered just how long the passage was--

Then, suddenly, light! Freezing air hit him, hurting his lungs, chilling his damp clothing. Impossibly strong hands caught him, lifted him from the water as he saw the silvery body of Leviathan sliding past, pushing the mangled soldier with his nose. Squall was almost crushed against a huge, furred body; dry heat emanating from it as if it was on fire--as if it _was_ fire. Steam rose from Squall in billows, and within seconds he was completely dry. Turning just as his rescuer disappeared, he caught a glimpse of ember-red fur.

Stepping onto the grassy hill from the plank bridge, Squall noticed the air had warmed considerably. The Garden air conditioning was still too cold for comfort, but the lung-freezing cold was gone. Stepping into the entrance, Squall saw why: a black-armored man and two (tame?) Snow-Lions were pushed against a wall, dead.

The door to the hall burst open, and Squall watched Zell and Nida back in, fighting with a squad of soldiers. Nida was weilding a deadly-looking katana, and had what appeared to be throwing knives strapped to his side as well. With a moment of concentration, Squall sent an Ultima spell at the soldiers, startling the other SeeDs enough to make them jump.

"Whew!" Nida said as the soldiers fell. "I think that's the last of them here--Squall, where did _you_ come from?"

Squall gestured back at the door to the stream. Zell shrugged.

"I thought you'd be by the parking lot."

"Why?" asked Squall.

"Because that's where Quezacotl was," Zell said matter-of-factly. Squall stared at Zell for a moment, then opened his mouth to say--something. It didn't matter; a moment later Garden dropped out from underneath him, throwing him into a wall. Zell and Nida landed beside him just in time for another jolt as the entire Garden keeled to one side, sending the Snow Lion corpses and the three SeeDs rolling.

_"Will Helmsman Nida please report to the bridge immediately,"_ came a voice over the intercom. _"Repeat--"_

"They got the Bridge back!" Zell said, struggling to stand on the tilting floor. "Let's go!"

The three ran through the halls, clogged with dead and wounded, fighting their way against gravity as the Garden bobbed and listed drunkenly. Upon reaching the elevator they were forced to drag out the body of a stabbed soldier, heavy armor making it much harder than it seemed it should have been. Punching the "3F" button, the SeeDs waited while the elevator rose. Stepping off and onto the lift to the bridge, Squall noticed that there were considerable number of armored soldiers lying on the ground, dead. A pile of blue-uniformed bodies rested against the wall, SeeD casualties. The lift rose well enough, despite the fact that one side was blackened heavily. Apparently there had been some pretty major fighting for control.

"Squall? I thought Dr. Kadowaki wanted you to--never mind." Xu said from the controls. "Take a look at this."

Taking the pair of binoculars Xu held out to him, Squall looked out over the--_waves_? The steep cliffs of the Balamb continent rose in front of them--whatever had happened, they weren't stationed any more. Plans were apparently changing.

"To your right," Xu said. Squall turned, and saw a close-up veiw of a rotating circle, much like the one that propelled Balamb Garden, except this one was pure silver. Raising the binoculars, he saw a black, streamlined building, heading towards them at full speed.

Hitting the PA, he snapped "Brace for impact!" into the mic. Then the black building rammed Balamb, sending another jolt through the Garden.

"They pushed us off the cliff," Xu said. "They've been ramming us since. There's a leak in the B1 level, I sent Quistis and her little fan club to fix it. The Trepies should be able to stop it before the Garden sinks, but we can't stand many more of these attacks."

"What are we supposed to do?" Zell asked, making a fist.

"Nida," Squall asked. "How fast can Garden? Faster than--that?"

Xu nodded. "_Anything _turns faster than that thing," she replied for Nida. "It's as bad as a T-Rexaur with a missing leg. It's got an incredible acceleration curve, though."

"That's fine." Squall motioned Nida up to the huge, bone-colored pillar at the front of the bridge: the steering device. "Nida, take us alongside it. Keep your distance, but try to stay either directly to one side of them so they can't ram us. If they turn, just move to their side and--"

"_Yeargh_!" Zell gasped, keeling over and grabbing his head. Squall bent to see if he was all right, when--

_(--aaaagh!)_

Whatever this was, it had to be an attack--it felt as if there were fangs in his temples, pounding burning venom, trying to rip his mind out of his skull, turning the world impossible colors...

Kneeling on the ground he didn't have far to fall, but he was unconcious before he hit anyway.


	15. Face of the Enemy

XV  
_"There's something to be said for knowing your enemy. But, to tell the truth, I don't think this is an enemy I want to know."  
--Vinzer Deling, start of the Sorceress War  
_

_

* * *

"Triumph!"_

_The voice called out of the darkness, and Squall tried to turn his head. To one side, he heard Zell stand up, to the other, he could see Seifer struggling to his feet._

_"Is this--the dream world?" Zell asked--a ridiculous question. Ellone's "dream world" was the past--sad, sometimes, or melancholy, but gentle compared to this vindictive darkness. "No--" he muttered. "Ellone can't do that anymore."_

_"...the hell is this?" Seifer demanded, looking around at the black void._

_"It is a pity you do not recognise me," the voice said from the darkness, laughing under its breath at something only it found funny. "Perhaps this can be attributed to the fact you do not know me. But I have known each of you for a long, long time."_

_"Who are you?" Squall asked into the darkness. (Where are we?)_

_A figure stepped out of the darkness--illuminated by some inner light, he was as unnatural as the void in which he stood. He was obviously strong--a thin, sinewy strength like a snake's, or a cat's. Long silver hair poured down behind him over a cape of pure black, an eastern fighter's trousers billowing around his legs. There was a fanciful scar on his chest, carved meticulously in the shape of a serpent, half obscured by the silver sash he wore. He was tall. At least as tall as Seifer, whose 6'2" height wasn't bested very often. Compelling blue-green eyes stared out of an ageless face, one that could almost be called elegant. But the aura ofmalice __ surrounding him was--frightening._

_A long blade, even taller than the man himself and quite thin, appeared in his hand. "You don't recognise me? At all? I'm... disappointed. But not surprised."_

_"Who are you?" Squall asked again._

_"You may call me Dyne," he said. "Lord Dyne, Dyne Ascendant. Though I have had other names. In fact, I stole this one, as well."_

_Seifer reached behind him for his gunblade, stepping back a pace when he found it wasn't there. "What are you doing with us?" he asked._

_Dyne bowed. "I have come to make you an offer. I am sure you know me--you have heard my name, and the name of my ancestor often enough. I," he said, standing up to his full height, "am the descendant of Hyne."_

_(Descendant of Hyne,) Squall thought. (That's what Sorceresses are called.)_

_"The silent one thinks correctly," Dyne said, startling him. "The powers that make the Sorceresses what they are are Hyne's gift. And with that gift, I have the potential to rule the world. In the name of the creator of man, Hyne, I offer you the chance to join me."_

_"Never," Squall said immediately. (I just finished with a sorceress--do I have to fight a Sorcerer now, too?)_

_A look of displeasure crossed Dyne's face. "No, way," Zell said from off to one side._

_"No, thanks," Seifer said with his usual scorn, though the tiniest hint of regret was conveyed in his tone as well. "I tried that once. Didn't work out."_

_Dyne frowned. With a gesture, Zell and Seifer disappeared._

_"Those two are of little concern to me," he said. "But you, Squall Leonhart. Surely **you** will reconsider."_

_"No," Squall said simply._

_"But I have so much to offer you," Dyne said. "So much you might... lose... otherwise." He stepped closer, sword flashing in the lacklight. "And I **do** want your service, knight."  
_

_A cold wind threaded around Squall. (Knight--) the title of sorceress's guardians. He had become Rinoa's knight, informally--as Seifer had become Ultimecia's. Seifer's path had nearly lead to his ruin. And now Dyne was offering him the same._

_He opened his mouth to respond--but he was interrupted. Out of nowhere the GF Gilgamesh appeared, his four swords Zantetsuken, Masamune, Excaliber and Excalipoor strapped to his back._

_"You would still seek to challenge us?" he asked from within the many folds of the robe he wore. Masamune flashed from his back to his fist, razor-sharp and deadly. Squall couldn't help but notice that it bore a striking resemblance to the one Dyne held in his hands--or that Dyne was staring at it, expression a tremulous suspension between disgusted disbelief and yearning. "Then you have erred," Gilgamesh continued._

_Dyne struck with all the speed of a cobra, but Gilgamesh was faster. With an effortless twist of his wrist, he disarmed the would-be conqueror. Turning, time seemed to pause around him as he said "where is Naja?" and vanished. A vertiginous wake swept from his exit, engulfing Dyne--and the man faded, leaving Squall to wondere desperately **what** was going on._

_Not that he had expected any sense from Gilgamesh. The first time he had appeared, just after Seifer had killed Odin, his entire conversation with Seifer had consisted of "You gave me the fourth one. Huh? Was it you? Then dodge my sword! Eat this!"--at which point he had sent Seifer flying across the room, turned, and said "Where is the dimentional interval?" as a parting shot. Then he had vanished, taking Odin's sword, the Zantetsuken, with him. If Gilgamesh had some kind of grand aim, it wasn't one that Squall understood.  
_

_(But that entire_ **_exchange_** _made no sense. Where am I? Where is Dyne? ...**who** is Dyne? And what the **hell**_ _is going on?)_

_"All fair questions," an infinitely proper voice said into his mind._

_"Ash," rumbled a voice from somewhere else. "We don't need to tell **him** anything. Let him fight as he's wont to."_

_"You stand corrected, brother-mine," the first voice said again. "How else is he to know the task **we** have chosen to charge him with? Be kinder."_

_Squall turned--to find himself looking into the baleful, yellow eyes of Ifrit, the fire-elemental, dwarfing him as they stood in a silent faceoff. Behind Ifrit hovered the gold-and-green Quezacotl, capelike tail fluttering. (What...?) Squall wondered._

_"We would tell you something," Quezacotl said.  
_  
_ "**He** would tell you something," Ifrit growled._

_"And yet you were the one who pulled him from the water, used your own soul's element to protect him from the bitter cold of Dyne's minions. You are as much involved with this as I could ever be, simply by virtue of your warm-hearted nature."_

_"**Jester**!"__ Ifrit roared. "Be **on**__with your task before I **rend** you from the heavens!"_

_Quezacotl turned to Squall. "We Guardians have spoken amongst ourselves. We belive you must know some things: that the one you have just seen, the one called Dyne, is a danger which must be defeated. We have spoken amongst ourselves, and agreed that as you defeated the Sorceress Ultimecia, so you would be the one most equiped to deal with the Sorcerer Dyne. And until this task is finished, we shall aid you--to the **fullest** extent of our powers."_

_"But--" (Why?) Squall thought._

_"Humans!" Ifrit snapped. "They are as foolish as... fools! Surely, human child, you did not go through the future with your eyes shut! You saw Ultimecia's Guardian Forces, those twisted mockeries we could once have called kin! Perhaps you could see the resemblance between the Guardian, Greiver and I; could sense the threat to our brothers, ourlikenesses, our twins! And did you not see the corrupted Tiamat, strong as Bahamut Himself? We do not **relish** these things happening to our kind! And if the Sorceress Ultimecia can do such things, could the Sorcerer Dyne? Only his death will please us. And seeing as you owe your_ _**life **to us for many occasions, you will aid us."_

_"We would not place this burden on you alone," Quezacotl said. "While it is in our power, we will aid you. But do not attempt to summon us--for now. We have our own preparations to make. A war is brewing, the likes of which we have not for millennia seen. We will come when we are needed.  
"We will be waiting in Centra."_

-

The void faded away, to be replaced with the infirmary lights. Squall glanced to either side, noticing Zell and Seifer in the other beds.

"They're all fine," Doctor Kadowaki said from the next room over. "In fact, they're all better than fine. They're the healthiest I've ever seen them. You know the newer wounds on Squall's head and side? They're both healed. Not even a scar. All three of them just... seem to be sleeping."

"I saw them," Nida said. "That was _not_ just falling asleep. They looked like someone shot them in the head."

"Can we see them?" Quistis asked.

"Sure. Go right ahead," Kadowaki replied. There was a moment's wait, then the door to the room creaked open. Squall slipped out of bed and stood up, facing Quistis.

"Oh," she said. "I thought you were asleep."

"How long?" Squall asked.

"You've been out for about an hour," Quistis said. "What happened?"

_(That might be a little hard to explain,_) Squall thought. "I think I know what's going on here. With the armies, the GFs--all of it."

Quistis brightened up. "Well, that's--_very_ good!" she said. "But--maybe you should wait until those two wake up. I'm sure everyone will want to hear about it."

"Yeah," Squall said. "I'm sure they will. Is Garden safe?"

"It's a standoff," Quistis said. "We've got the leaks plugged, but we're still running in circles around their... ship, I guess you'd call it. But, Doctor Odine's made another discovery."

"Odine? He's still here?"

Quistis nodded. "Don't ask me why. I don't think that Kiros could make him leave."

"Of course not!" came a voice from the doorway. "You cannot stand in ze way of science!"

_(...not again...)_ Squall thought. _(Could we maybe **not** make a habit of this?)_

Odine came bustling in the door, carrying a black combat jacket. It looked... efficient. The kind of thing a commando would wear. Bulletproof.

Odine held it up with all the pride of a master angler holding up a huge catch. "I found zis on the inside of ze armor," he said. Opening it, he showed them the metal wiring in the inside. "Yez, you remember, it iz vith zis zat one can receive transmissions in ze way of brain waves--it iz ze way ze master of ze army controls his troops. Without zis, ze armor is completely safe. But with zis, anyone who puts zis on becomes one of ze enemy. One of ze ultimate soldiers! It iz ze most efficient of such a machine Odine has ever seen! And now, Odine has ze jacket--ans it iz fully intact for study!" The scientist smiled happily. "Now, you vill attempt ze rescue, so I may get on with my paper!" Odine demanded.

"Fair enough," Squall said. "The Quad, then? It has more space than the infirmary."

"Excellent!" Odine said. "I vill evacuate ze Quad at once!"

The bizarre little man rushed out of the room, presumably going to the Quad.

"Hey, Squall." Nida asked. "You really planning on doing this?"

Squall nodded. Nida shrugged. "Well, I guess if you want to, there's not much we can do to convince you not to."

Nida remembered run-ins with Squall's determination. Specifically, he remembered the Esthar fiasco--Squall had ordered him to pilot the Garden to the hidden city-nation, and when Nida had responded that it was impossible, Squall had told him to do his best anyway. They had made it to Fisherman's Horizon.

Nida hadn't expected them to get any further. But then Squall had disappeared, and only after talkign with Quistis did Nida realize that it was his intention to _walk_ the rest of the way--carrying a comatose Rinoa on his back, to boot. Garden had stayed at FH, waiting for him until Nida was almost sure he had collapsed of exhaustion somewhere along the line.

Then he had shown up again, with Rinoa alive and well, in command of an Estharan warship.

It had been pretty unnerving.

Squall stepped out of the infirmary, heading towards the Quad. Doing a mental check he saw that he was, in fact, stocked up to about a hundred Shells and Demis. He noticed than the floors had been mostly cleared of dead bodies--which was good. There were still a few floating (and otherwise) corpses in the stream below, however. Squall grimaced. How long was the casualty list _this_ time?

He was glad he didn't have to walk by the parking lot--as the Garden itself was mobile and they had had little need for cars, he had ordered it turned into a larger, more comfortable room that could be used as a lounge or--in times like these, an extended infirmary. It had quickly become the main social point of the Garden in times of peace--a point Squall did his best to avoid. Now, it would clogged with the wounded and dying.

Stepping into the Quad, Squall almost winced at the damage there. While nothing compaired to the structural damage it had suffered in the last attack, the walls did bear burn marks and deep gouges were cut into the walls and floor where weapons had missed their targets. A spray of bulletholes across one wall clearly said that there had been a machinegunner in there, and random red-brown stains showed where the janitors hadn't been able to clean yet.

Odine, blissfully oblivious to the carnage, stood by the biggest tree in the Quad and waited impatiently for Squall to get ready. Then, carefully, Squall began layering the Shells on himself.

_(One right on top of the other--no overlap, no space between._) He started with a small, almost skin-tight one, then gradually got larger.

_(Ten---eleven---)_

One of Odine's lab assistants--_(How did he get there? Did Odine bring along the entire damned population of Esthar?)_--was scribbling notes down furiously. Odine was watching with a look of too-eager entusiasm.

_(Eighteen---nineteen--four more...)_

The last shell was _big._ Squall had never thought that he would need a shell that big. Offhand, he wondered how much _any_ magic would be able to do to him now.

_(All right. Now for the Demi.)_

Concentrating again, Squall cast Demi, only a few feet away from himself. Stepping forward, he felt the intense resistance as the Shells hit the Demi spell. It was like trying to walk up a waterfall.

_(A bit further--just a bit further._) And, suddenly--(_there!)_ He could see into the dark netherworld that served as Dyne's prison. Looking around, he caught sight of the prisoners--Rinoa, watching him with a look of stunned surprise that quickly turned to joy, Laguna, with an idiotic grin plastered to his face, Selphie, jumping up and down, and a Shumi, holding a golden, glowing sphere that seemed to be emitting some heavy magic. Then, suddenly, Squall couldn't go any further--the sphere was pushing him back. The Shumi said something, tried to do something with the sphere as Laguna turned to say something to him, then the Demi spell collapsed and Squall found himself staring up at the ceiling of the Quad.

"Where's the armor?" Squall asked, without hesitation.

Odine gestured to something behind Squall as he got up. "It iz right zere... _vithout_ ze jacket, of course." Squall hoped it was only his imagination that made Odine sound disappointed at that concession. "Kiros vill help you put it on."

Turning, Squall saw that Kiros had come in without his noticing. Walking over to the armor which, disturbingly enough, was standing upright, Kiros punched a button on the collar and undid what looked like a twisted hook, and the entire torso of the armor split open down the front.

"You'll need to stand on a chair to jump in," Kiros said. "There doesn't seem to be any other way."

Squall waited while Kiros dragged over a bench, then climbed up on it. Carefully lowering his legs into the bottom half of the armor, he almost jumped when the torso closed around him, shrinking to fit him. He tried moving, finding that the armor was surprisingly light... mechanized? It seemed likely. Flexing his fingers, Squall was amazed at the dexterity of the armor. And strength! It felt as if he would be able to lift Balamb Garden!

Checking his right hand, Squall saw the twenty-three Shell stones carefully arranged in the shape of a serpent on his palm. _(Some kind of emblem,)_ he thought. _(I wonder what it means? Does it **have** any significance?)_ They were tiny, only the size of pebbles. Each one was full with magical energy.

Steeling himself, he cast Demi again. This time the armor compensated for the resistance--Squall walked through as easily as if nothing was there, emerging on the other side as the spell collapsed behind him.

Rinoa jumped on him, catching him in a happy hug. While Squall gently tried to disengage her, Laguna walked up to one side.

"Welcome to the Netherworld," he said. "I hope you have a way to get us out of here."

Squall nodded. "Of course. Same way you got in."

_(First--Rinoa.) _ "Rinoa, stand over there for a second," Squall said. She bounced over, and waited while Squall began layering the Shells on her. "Now," he said, "just step through the Demi. It'll be kind of hard, like walking against water."

Rinoa nodded, and waited as Squall cast Demi, concentrating on the Quad and hoping that would be where she'd end up. Rinoa walked towards it, distorted, and disappeared.

Squall repeated the procedure for Selphie, Laguna, and, finally, Guard, who asked if Squall could please try to send him back to the Shumi village. Squall tried--though he didn't know how precisely the magic worked, and thus had no idea where Guard would actually end up. Then, he cast Demi on himself and tried to concentrate on the Quad--on Selphie, on Rinoa, who was sure to be waiting. Tried _not_ to think of the time when he had been trapped--alone--in a universe that consisted entirely of a rock twenty meters across. Tried not to think that, as a rescue went, this one had been unnervingly easy.

Two sets of hands caught him as he staggered through the spell: Kiros and Laguna. Odine was jumping up and down with energy unsurpassed past or present by anyone except perhaps Selphie on a good day. "The crossing's kinda rough, isn't it?" asked Laguna as Squall stood on his own and tried to open the armor. Kiros stepped over to help him with it, but Squall was able to figure it out by himself. Hauling himself out, he noticed that Zell and Seifer had arrived.

"Now might be a good time for some answers," Quistis said before Rinoa could latch onto Squall again. "Why don't you tell us what you know?"

_(All right,)_ Squall thought. _(But I have to warn you--it's weird.)_


	16. Birthright

XVI  
_"You know, there was some old Dollet author who wrote... that all great figures have a conflicted relationship with their fathers. We want to raise the seeds of the future, Edea. But these children... by and large, all of their parents are dead or gone. Do you ever wonder what that can mean for them? How hard it must be?"  
--Cid Kramer  
_

_

* * *

(I don't believe this. We're at war, and there is nothing to do. ...absolutely_ **_nothing_** _to do.)_

Squall stared at the ceiling of his room, bored. It had to be at least ten, but he couldn't get to sleep. He had thought of going to the training center--but, without a gunblade, it would be pointless. And, since Diablos hadn't decided to come out of the netherworld, there was no way to make sure he would be safe, unless he asked someone to come with him. The problem with that was that everyone was asleep.

_(Except Laguna. Kiros tells me he never gets to sleep this early. But I am not going to ask **him**_ _to escort me through the training center.)_

The problem was, when Squall had nothing to do, he started thinking.

_(...and whenever I start thinking, I usually don't enjoy it.)_

The earlier meeting had been interesting enough. After they had all heard Squall's explanation, everyone had decided to help out. Even Seifer. Even Laguna. Rinoa had refused the offer for a trip back to Deling City in the Ragnarok, and nothing else would do but for her to contact her father immediately and tell him in no uncertain terms that she would be staying with Balamb Garden. It had almost been comical to watch the conversation--Squall doubted that General Caraway had been able to get in more than ten words--most of them "but".

Caraway couldn't commit troops without some kind of due process, but for his just-rescued daughter, he was willing to get the ball rolling.

That, naturally, led to darker thoughts. _(I wonder what it must be like to have a father,)_ Squall thought--a question that had come up more and more recently, as Rinoa had tried to mend relations with hers. (_I wonder who mine was?)_

A thought struck him. A memory: the conference room/passenger seat in the Ragnarok. Kiros had said "You look very much like your mother." _(So--Kiros knew my mother? How?_ **_I_ **_don't even know my mother. Then--) _then Ward had said something which, since he had lost his voice years ago, Kiros had to translate as "It's a good thing you don't look like your father." He had said it in a whisper, like a conspiritor. As if he was sharing Squall in a joke he couldn't have understood.

_(It's an interesting mystery,)_ Squall thought sternly at himself. _(One that I'd like to solve **some day**_. _But we're at war, and this isn't the time--)_

"Talk to me when it's all finished," Laguna had said. "I have a lot to tell you. But I won't blame you if you don't want to hear it." _(...I never got a chance to talk to him again. Maybe I should--sometime.)_

Something began to nag at the edge of his mind, but he pushed the thought away. It swam amid half-formed strategies and vague leads, insistent. (_No. That's impossible. More--it's absurd._) But the thought wouldn't go away.

_(Kiros knew my mother. Ward knew my father. Laguna wanted to talk to me. Could it--? No._ _**No**. There are any number of reasons it's unlikely... __Squall, stop it. Just stop thinking...)_

But it all fit--didn't it? _(...but think about it. Remember, Kiros went to Winhill once. He met Raine. She looks... **enough** like me. Maybe. enough to make him think... But she married Laguna, and he's still alive, so any children they **might** have had wouldn't have gone to an orphanage. So that can't be it.)_

Squall turned over, trying to convince himself of that. _(But--Laguna went to war. And Ellone was with Raine, and she went to the orphanage when Raine died. She said that Laguna was sad that he wasn't able to be by Raine's side when she died... no, no, **no**,__ dammit, **NO**! **Stop **it, Squall!)_

But it all made sense. It all made perfect, risible, horrible sense. Kiros knew his mother. Kiros knew _Raine_. Eighteen years ago, when Laguna was off to war, Raine died-_-(and Ellone said that Raine wanted to show Laguna her new-born baby.) _ If Ellone had gone to the orphanage, where would that baby have gone? What would have happened to him?

_(She never said it was a baby **boy**,_) Squall argued with himself--but it was a futile protest, a lame excuse for disbelief. _(...everything else fits. It would explain why Kiros said that crack about my father in a whisper... he was afraid Laguna would hear. And why Laguna would understand if I didn't want to talk about it... isn't that the classical line for parents who have abandoned their children?  
(This can't be right. It can't be.  
(It has to be.  
(Just stop thinking...)_

For what was probably the first time since he had been a child, Squall felt as if he needed to talk to someone. _(Someone help me... I'm confused... lost..._) another memory. _(Someone? So I'll end up depending on others after all...)_

Before he knew it, Squall was up and pacing, trying to work off the nervous energy it gave him. _(Nervous? I can just imagine Kiros saying--you've changed, man--telling Laguna that when they were in Winhill--Winhill. My hometown?--stop thinking...  
(I have to talk to Laguna,) _ Squall thought._  
(Now?  
(Why not?)_

Stepping over to the door, Squall stared at it for a moment, reluctant. Turning to the window, he noticed the black ship heading away--finally. He wondered if they had finally gotten frustrated with not being able to do anything to Balamb Garden. He turned back to the door, opening it slowly.

Seifer was in the hall, waiting for him.

_(What now...?)_ Squall thought dully.

"Squall, uh..." Seifer started awkwardly. "I just wanted to say, well... that... I..."

_(Seifer? Apologizing?) _If Squall could have been surprised at that moment, he would have been. But, as Seifer struggled to find something to say, it put him in a very awkward position.

"Forget it," Squall said. _(What's done is done. ...I really can't deal with you **and** Laguna in the same night.)_

Seifer nodded. "Yeah. Well, see you in the morning."

Seifer headed off towards the training center, and Squall glanced at his gunblade sheath with a twinge of envy. Seifer's gunblade was much thinner, much lighter than his had been--not something he would have chosen. But at least he still _had_ a weapon.

The VIP rooms were down a little side hall--that would be where Laguna would be, Squall guessed. Only the best for the president of Esthar. Laguna would have been placed in the first one, the nearest, the most convenient. Walking up, he gave the door a couple of good thumps.

Kiros opened the door, and Squall saw Laguna sitting in a chair by the far wall.

"I was just leaving," Kiros said, stepping outside and giving Laguna a significant look.

Laguna looked over, jumping up faster than Squall had ever seen _anyone_ jump. He was grinning from ear to ear--flushed, though; a nervous grin. _(You knew,)_ Squall thought. _(You **knew** all this time. Were you waiting for me to ask?)_

Kiros shut the door behind Squall, leaving him alone with Laguna. "You wanted to see me?" Laguna asked, walking up to Squall--a slight limp; his leg cramped when he was nervous and it was hard to mask--and locking the door. "I'm sure Kiros will make sure no one bothers us."

"I... need to talk to you."

Laguna's smile faltered, but he tried not to show it. He failed. "Uh-oh. Sounds serious." He grinned again. "I'm not under Garden arrest or anything, am I? 'cause I'm pretty sure I get immunity from that, or something..."

The joke trailed off. Squall stared at him for a moment, trying to convince himself not to wipe that idiotic look off Laguna's face.

_(You **do** know, don't you? And you probably know why I'm here--and you're damn well not going to tell me? Not going to say_ _**anything**?)_

"So?" asked Laguna. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Squall had planned on starting off the conversation civilly enough, but something inside just _snapped_.

"You _bastard_!" he yelled. "Why didn't you _tell_ me?"

Then he punched Laguna in the chest.

Laguna staggered against the wall with a blank look on his face--a wounded soldier's look, a look that says _where have my legs gone? And why is my face in the grass, and what hurts so badly?_ Squall punched him again, then collapsed against the opposite wall shaking, trying to regain some of the composure he _knew_ he had--and failing miserably. Tears of anger, frustration and pain rolled down his face; he had no more idea how to stop them then he did of how to continue the conversation.

"You... figured it out, then," he said, arm pulled across his torso where the blows had landed.

"Yes," Squall growled--because he didn't trust himself to speak normally without his voice cracking.

Awkwardly, Laguna walked over and hugged him; a gesture Squall was getting heartily sick of.

"I guess it wouldn't make much difference if I said I was sorry, would it?" Laguna asked. "I'm sorry, man, I just didn't know how to--"

"Get away from me," Squall said through gritted teeth, not feeling any too charitable at the moment.

Laguna looked hurt, and backed away. But he continued.

"I _did_ try to find you. Kiros and Ward helped, too. But, I didn't think that I could just come introduce myself. What would I say? Hi, guess who this is? I couldn't just walk in and demand you accept me!" Laguna tried to explain.

Squall turned to face Laguna. "How long have you known?"

"Years," Laguna answered. "Since before I hired SeeD. That's why I requested you. I--had to see you."

"Well, I hope you weren't _disappointed_," Squall said bitterly. He was getting a tighter rein on his emotions. Bitterness was an old companion.

"No," Laguna said. "I wasn't. I was... really proud." He took a longer look at Squall. "You look like her," he said.

Squall said nothing.

Laguna sighed, staring at him awkwardly. "If you don't mind, would you think about talking a bit?"

"What is there to talk about," Squall growled in a low voice, wiping tears off his face and cursing himself for letting so much weakness show.

Laguna took a step back. "Son--"

"Shut up!" Squall snapped. _(You're not my father. I haven't ever had a father--you think you can flips a switch and change that now? You **can't** be my father... you gave that up for Esthar.)_

"Squall," Laguna corrected himself. "Please. Could you just listen for a bit?"

"What are you trying to say, Laguna?" Squall said, dragging his voice back down to some normal register of control. "You've already said you're sorry. You think it changes anything?" _(You're wrong. You can't undo eighteen years of this with two words.)_

"It doesn't change anything, I guess," Laguna said. "It was just... whenever I thought about you, I saw her instead. I couldn't face that."

_(So I'm nothing but some sort of icon to you? A memento of a mother I knew even less then you?_) "So that's it."

Laguna stared at him for a moment. "Aren't you even going to listen?" he demanded. "I'm trying to _explain_, dammit--_please_!"

"Explain what?" Squall retorted with a voice that was a bit more--controlled. The old shell was closing down over him again, tighter than it ever had been. It had broken once, from shock and surprise. It _would not_ break again.

"That--" Laguna paused. He was visibly shaking. "That I _do_... love..."

"Don't." Squall shook his head. _(Don't bother. There's no room for you, Laguna. I chose my life, just like you chose yours. Don't expect it all to change just to accommodate you. I can't just forgive--  
(--no point in holding grudges._) Squall did a mental double take. _(I can't have been serious.  
(...he **is** __my father. I can't change that.  
(But I sure as **hell** don't have to acknowledge it.)_

"How many people know about this?"

"Ellone does. Me, Kiros, and Ward. And now you." Laguna looked at the floor, hair falling down to obscure his face. "Just the five of us. I... won't tell anyone, if you don't want me to."

Squall thought about it. "No. Don't." _(I... won't have it. I won't have people thinking there's something here that isn't. This can't be a part of my life. It's not... true. ...even if it is.)_

Laguna nodded unhappily. "That's your choice," he said. "Maybe sometime... maybe I'll be able to make it up to you."

Squall turned to the door. Weapon or none, the training center sounded especially good. Laguna had already seen him break--he wasn't going to compoung the issue by ripping him apart. He needed to work this, and he might as well use the monsters to do it.

"I'm leaving now," he said, the closest he could manage to a polite goodbye. Laguna made no sound from behind him as he stepped into the hall and shut the door.

-

Squall stepped into his room several hours later. His mind was no more cleared than it had been before--but he was aching from the training, physically exhausted. He would be able to sleep, at least--though it wouldn't likely be a restful sleep.

He took a step toward his bed--and paused.

There was an object, wrapped in black silk and silver ribbon. A gift--that was clear. But the size and the shape spoke to him--reminded him of something. The weight was right when he picked it up, the balance was right as he turned it--and when he unwrapped it, it fell from numb fingers onto the mattress.

There, in the middle of his bed lay his gunblade, perfectly normal, as if it had never been broken, never been lost. And it _was_the same gunblade--there was the familiar, tiny dent in the third bullet cartridge, the lion's head hanging from the chain on the hilt, the winged lion embossed on the blade. It was sharper, though--and looked stronger, somehow. It gleamed in light that wasn't the lamplight from his desk, and wasn't the moonlight from outside. It was beautiful--and deadly, now somehow more so.

But one more thing hand changed. On the last link of the chain, the one that attached to the Griever medallion, there was a tiny, perfect engraving of a serpent.


	17. Onward

XVII_  
"Tell me. When's the last time in the history of Estharan science we've tried to unearth something from the Age of Sorcery and it's turned out to be a **good** decision?"  
--Dr. Han Guissen, on the Lunatic Pandora excavation  
_

_

* * *

_

_"Will Squall Leonhart please report to the bridge, repeat, Squall Leonhart report to the bridge."_

Squall groaned as he rolled out of bed. He was sure he had gotten to sleep sometime the night before--else how would he be waking up now?--but he couldn't quite remember when. Running a gloved hand through his hair, he moved out of his room and towards the lift to the bridge. It looked like the repairs crew had gotten the Garden back to its former glory in record time, as far as Squall was concerned.

"Hey," came a sharp voice from behind him. Squall turned around, looking at Kiros. The presidential aide looked... angry. _Decidedly_ angry. Squall blinked; he didn't think he had ever seen Kiros mad before.

_(...oh, **damn**,)_ he thought, and the events of the night before came flooding back in a rush. _(Not now.)_ "Yes?"

Kiros took a step forward, taking advantage of his height to look down on Squall. "What the hell did you say to him?" he demanded. "He's more depressed than I have _ever_ seen him in my life!"

"I didn't say anything." _(Nothing... worthy of note, at least. ...nothing I want to remember.)_

"The hell you didn't!" Kiros said, staring at him. "I'm surprised he's still walking and cogent! He didn't even want to _eat_ this morning, and this from someone who has an appetite like a starved Malboro twenty-four seven!"

_(If he can't cope with what I said, that's his problem.)_ "So, what? You want me to go apologize?" Squall crossed his arms. "I didn't say anything I'm ashamed of." _(...liar.)_

"Maybe you _should_ be ashamed," Kiros said. "That man is your _father,_ whether you like it or not, and you have no right to--"

"No _right_?" Squall hadn't intended to retort--but his temper was still frayed, to his annoyed chagrin. "I'm eighteen years old. For _six hours_ now I've had a father. I met him a _year_ ago. _I'm_ not the one who threw this... _relationship_ away." He seethed--tried to control it. He was wanted on the Bridge. "Everyone has to live with their own decisions. The universe isn't going to make an exception for him." Without waiting to see what Kiros would say, Squall stalked off towards the elevator.

--only to be stopped when Kiros grabbed him, putting him into the wall beside the elevator doors. "Be quiet," he growled. "You don't understand any of what happened--and I know you don't, because you won't even _ask_. Yeah, he made some pretty big mistakes, but if you leaveit off like this then it's your fault, too. I'm not going to stand around and watch while you throw away your family in a _tantrum_--"

Squall disengaged himself, glaring at Kiros. "You're talking to the Commander of Garden," he said--a weak evasion, one that didn't impress Kiros at all.

"Yeah," he said. "And I've got nothing but respect for the office. But I'm also talking to a kid who isn't thinking straight, and who's maybe gonna regret what he said when he comes to his senses."

Kiros turned, braids snapping angrily in the air behind him. Squall turned as he left, hitting the elevator button and trying to control his expression.

Rinoa was waiting for him when he stepped onto the elevator. As soon as she saw him, a mock-worried frown creased her face.

"Oh, no. You've been _thinking_ again, haven't you?" she asked.

"...a bit," Squall admitted.

"I'd hate to see what happens when you think a lot," Rinoa said, punching the 3F button for him. "What is it this time?"

"Our... next course of action," Squall bluffed. Rinoa seemed to accept it.

"Oh. And what have you come up with?"

The door to the third floor opened. "Not sure."

Squall stepped onto the lift to the bridge, waiting as Rinoa jumped on. Xu was standing there, the everpresent pair of binoculars hanging ominously from her hand. Handing them to Squall, she pointed out to sea.

Holding up the binoculars and waiting for them to auto-focus, Squall blinked in surprise as he saw a distant, black obelisk jump sharply into veiw. The veiw zoomed in, and he could make out what looked like Esthar's seal on one side. Taking the binoculars down and handing them to Rinoa, he turned to Xu.

"Remember when it disappeared last year, leaving the Ragnarok behind in the Esthar Plains?" she asked. Squall nodded. "The Dollet radar tower just picked it up yesterday. It's heading to the Centra continent."

"That's--that's the Lunatic Pandora!" Rinoa said.

"The question is, why is it going to Centra?"

Something occured to him. "Is Doctor Odine still here?" Squall asked, hardly noticing when Rinoa jumped onto the lift and ran off.

"He and his scribe were scheduled to leave on the Balamb train in an hour," Xu said.

_(After we blasted the intercontinental railroad, there's no way he'd be able to get back from Timber._) "Tell him not to. Get him on board the Ragnarok. Tell my team to meet me there," Squall said.

"Oh, and, Squall?" Xu asked. "I think I should come with you."

"Sure," Squall said. Why not? She was the resident Garden expert on the Lunatic Pandora--and she had been interested in taking an air mission for a long time, now. And besides, they could use any help they could get.

"Thanks," Xu said, turning to the mic. "Will Zell Dincht, Quistis Trepe, Selphie Tilmett, Laguna Loire and Irvine Kinneas please report to the Ragnarok? Repeat, Zell, Quistis, Selphie, Laguna and Irvine, report to the Ragnarok."

"And Nida," Squall said.

"Will Nida also please report to the Ragnarok," Xu said quickly.

"Well, it's just like you to forget," said a voice from below.

"Sorry," Xu called down, switching off the mic. "Who's going to be taking over here?"

"Emergency shift," Squall answered. Xu turned back to the mic.

"Will the emergency bridge crew please report to the bridge, repeat, EBC report to the bridge." Xu turned to Squall. "Anything else?"

_(Seifer,)_ Squall thought. _(What am I going to do with Seifer?)_

"Send Seifer to the Ragnarok," Squall said. Xu raised an eyebrow and turned back to the mic.

"Will Seifer Almasy please report to the Ragnarok, repeat, Seifer report to the Ragnarok."

Squall stepped on the lift to the lower level as the EBC came bustling in the door. As he stepped off Xu began to snap out orders, the three people in the bridge crew nodded and stepped onto the lift. Xu, Squall and Nida stepped into the lift to the second floor, and the elevator car sank. Stepping out, they saw Irvine was waiting for them.

"Lookit what I just won from someone in the CC group!" Irvine said, holding up a long rifle with a telescopic sight on it. Squall had seen one once in the Deling Parade mission: it was a sniper-rifle. This one was in excellent condition, though.

"How did you manage to beat anyone in the Card Club?" Xu demanded.

Irvine held up a card, one that was clearly marked with Squall's face. It was... a very nice card.

"Where did you get that?" Squall snapped, grabbing it to take a closer look.

"I won it from Laguna," Irvine said. You'll have to ask him where he got it."

_(...I don't **want**__to know,_) Squall thought, handing his card back to Irvine. "Whatever. We're heading to Centra. Let's go."

"Right," Irvine said with his infuriating smile on his face. "Everyone else is on board already. We're all just waiting on you."

"We'll stop by the Esthar Airstation and drop Odine off," Squall said, stalking over to the deck and stepping onto the ramp. As soon as everyone had gotten inside the ramp retracted and the ship took off. Squall turned to Nida, saying "Go take over from Selphie."

"With _pleasure,"_ Nida said, moving for the lift.

-

"Welcome to the Centra Crater," Nida said as the Ragnarok pulled to a halt somewhere above the Centra continent. The Lunatic Pandora was visible in the distance, slowly getting larger. "Hope you enjoy the veiw. There's not much here."

"--GFs are driving me insane," Squall was remarking, hand to his forehead. "They said they'd be in Centra, but--"

"Umm, Squall?" Nida asked.

"--but I don't know _where_ in Centra. We don't even know that it's actually Centra the Lunatic Pandora is coming to," Squall finished, as if he hadn't heard Nida. It took the pilot a while to figure out that he actually hadn't.

"We've arrived," Nida said.

"But what are we supposed to do?" asked Quistis. "What? Is this some sort of 'go here--wait for further instructions?' "

"Hey, is anybody listening to me?"

"We'll have to wait, hope that it shows up--"

"The fuel cell's on fire," Nida said. "Yep. burning right up. Looks like we're all gonna die."

He had hoped it would get someone's attention. It didn't.

"As soon as we get there, we'll have to do some low-flying passes. See if we can see anything it might be coming for," Squall said.

"You are all deaf, blind worms, and I am ashamed to be taking orders from you," Nida said. No response.

"Bad idea. Too much dust. After a bit, everything begins to look the same. In any case, we have an approximate path for the Pandora. We can intercept it when it gets closer."

Nida steepled his fingers. "I can easily make you regret your words, mortals. You should not underestimate the dark powers of the Dark Lord Darkley, my _secret identity revealed_."

"I bet it's the Centra Ruins," Selphie piped up. "That has to be it."

"The deck shall be steeped in the blood of the unbelievers," Nida tried, wondering if anything short of summoning a GF on them could make the crew notice him.

"After we cleared Odin and King Tonberry out, there's nothing left there."

"Seifer stole the engines," Nida said.

"Then--"

"The Geezards are _coming_ for you," Nida said.

"--maybe--"

"I broke your gunblade again, Squall. Sorry."

Squall turned to look at Nida. "What did you say?"

"Did I say something?" Nida asked.

"The ship's stopped," Squall observed. "Are we there?"

"Now that you mention it, yeah, we are."

"Great," Squall said. "Next time, _tell_ me."

_(Do your best, even if you don't stand out, Cid said. It's a wonder he noticed me standing there at all. That would be great: the day of my graduation the Headmaster forgets I exist. Seems like my luck, though,_) Nida thought, trying to supress a smile.

"Is something funny?" Squall asked.

"Nope. Nothing funny here, sir," Nida said. Squall gave him an odd look before turning back to his team.

"We'll wait for the Lunatic Pandora," Squall said. "'til then, we're on standby. Do whatever you want, but make sure you're ready for anything when it arrives."

_"WHAT DID YOU SAY!"_ yelled someone from the lower level.

_(...damn,)_ Squall thought as he made his way to the lift and it sunk obediantly. _(...actually, I'm surprised it took this long for this to be obviously a bad idea.)_

"I'll throw you off the damn catwalk!" Zell yelled again, as Seifer leaned on the edge, smirking.

"Hey, it's not my fault that--"

"Seifer," Squall said.

Seifer ran right over what Squall had been about to say, continuing with "that you're the class clown."

"Zell," Squall tried. Zell, face flushed with rage, held up a fist.

"You want some of this?" he snapped at Seifer.

_"Zell!"_

"Bring it on," Seifer said. "Just don't hurt yourself."

Zell charged at Seifer, who raised his gunblade menacingly. Suddenly both of them halted, unable to do anything. Squall lowered his hand, thinking _(There's two perfectly good Stop spells wasted)_ irritably. Hands crossed over his chest, Squall waited for Zell and Seifer to notice him.

"Rrgh..." Zell said, annoyed that his vocal cords wouldn't work.

"Nnph," Seifer tried. Squall loosened the spell enough so both of them could turn to look at him, then tightened it again.

"It's a fair distance to the ground," he said. "If any of you would like to take up skydiving, then please, continue. Unfortunately we don't have any parachutes--though you shouldn't let that stop you."

Neither moved. They were frozen in Squall's spell.

_(Maybe I should just leave them here like this,)_ Squall thought. _(It'd be a lot less I'd have to worry about.)_

"I warned you not to start anything aboard my ship. Do I need to repeat myself, or shall I just turn you both over to Xu for discipline?"

"Nrrgh," Zell tried.

Squall turned and walked back to the lift, ignoring Zell and Seifer's muffled grunts and groans of protest. Turning to Xu as the lift reached the bridge, he transferred a fair amount of Stop spells to her and said "Keep an eye on Zell and Seifer. They're on the catwalk." Xu nodded, stepped onto the lift beside Squall, and had to clamp a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing when she saw the two would-be combatants. Squall headed to the hanger as Xu stepped through the large hatch onto the walkway.

"Errghnmphrr!" Seifer growled.

"I guess I'll give you a chance to explain yourselves," Xu said, still trying not to laugh. "Zell, you first."

"Nmphnrrghrrnrgph!"

"Really," Xu said, nodding. "Seifer?"

"Rrlghnphrr!"

"I see. Well, maybe in about an hour you'll want to talk a bit more," She said, shaking with supressed mirth.

"Rrgh_rgh_nrgh!"

"Man, that's harsh," said a voice behind Xu, and she turned around to see Laguna standing in the doorway, an odd look in his eyes. "...you'd better disarm them."

"Good idea," Xu said, walking over and taking Seifer's gunblade as he made muted noises of protest. Pulling Zell's gloves off was a bit harder, and she _tsk, tsk_ed at the sight of the sharp spurs on the knuckles. "You boys should play nicer," she said. "Really. Picking a fight on the catwalk? It's a wonder neither of you got hurt. Well, you can go back to your rooms now, unless you want a lecture."

"_Nnnph_..." Seifer said. A vague look of panic began to creep into Zell's eyes.

"You asked for it," Xu said when neither left. "Well, to begin with..."

Laguna had to beat a hasty retreat before he fell down laughing. His mirth was short-lived however--the two boys on the catwalk only reminded him of Squall. His son, it seemed, had a capacity for judgement and punishment that was only funny when one was _not_ on the receiving end.

Laguna quieted. Squall might well have been taking out his annoyance on them--in which case, it was partly his fault that they were being disciplined so harshly. ...just like it was his own fault that Squall was so knotted up inside, and so unforgiving--and that now he had lost the only part of Raine he would ever be able to know.

-

"You're _cruel,_ man," Zell said to Squall still stretching and flexing to relieve minor cramps and pains. Squall, watching the Lunatic Pandora, ignored him. "Do you even know what she did to us?"

Squall said nothing.

"She gave us a lecture. The longest, boringest lecture I have ever heard. And I couldn't even yawn!"

"Really," Squall said, voice flat.

"And I wasn't even the one who started it! That idiot called me a--"

"Zell," Squall said. "I don't care. Just don't let Seifer bother you. It's not worth it."

"_Nothing_ was worth that," Zell said. "And how come Seifer is getting off this easy?"

"He heard the same lecture you did," Squall said.

"Well, yeah, but--"

"If Seifer tries something again, tell Xu. Don't try to pummle him."

"And Xu'll what? Sic Nida on him?"

Squall paused for a moment. _(There's an interesting mental picture,)_ he thought.

"Hey," Nida said from the pilot's seat, mildly offended.

"Xu will do what she thinks is best," Squall replied.

"You're hopeless, man," Zell said. "Whoa! What the hell is that thing doing?"

Squall held up a hand, and Zell shut up. The Lunatic Pandora slid into place above a tiny, magenta spot on the ground; the Demi draw point. There, it just waited. "Take us closer," Squall said.

The Ragnarok slid forward under Nida's careful control, coming to a halt as the Lunatic Pandora began to rotate. Slowly at first, it spun faster and faster. A small sandstorm began to rise on the ground. Still, the Lunatic Pandora kept accellerating...

"What, the..."

Squall held up his hand again, and Zell became quiet. The sandy tornado rose.

"Uh," Nida said, hands ready on the controls. "So, way I hear it, the Pandora was constructed aroudn a huge dense crystal. ...anybody remember back to physics class, when we were learning about centrifical and centrifugal--"

"Lower altitude!" Squall snapped, cutting Nida off. Nida, already having sensed the danger, cut the engines entirely. There was a sickening sensation as the Ragnarok dropped--just in time, as a huge piece of the Lunatic Pandora tore itself from the Pillar and screamed over the ship's hull. The obelisk was coming apart--a rain of debris hissing through the air like a miniature, landbound meteor shower. Something impacted the side of the spaceship, sending it careening to one side, then the veiw was obscured by the massive duststorm raging just outside.

There was a horrendous series of jolts as the Ragnarok hit the ground, bounced, hit again, and skidded. Then an eerie silence broken only by the hellish screaming of the winds outside and the occasional noise of something hard hitting the Ragnarok's hull. Sand accumulated on the cockpit--the ship was being slowly buried.

Slowly, the wind died down. When he was at least marginally sure that it was over, Squall said "Take us up."

"Yes, sir," Nida said. The ship began to shed the many layers of sand it had acculmulated, rising from the ground. The movement had the effect of an "all clear" signal, and, within moments Quistis and Seifer were on the bridge. Breifly, Nida explained what had happened.

The last of the sand fell off the window, and everyone looked out.

"Whoa!" Zell said--and silently, Squall repeated the exclamation.

_(...whoa.)_

The Crystal Pillar, at this point all that was left of the Lunatic Pandora, had positioned itself above the Demi draw point. Thousands of magenta threads were rising up to it, dancing at its base like weaving fingers--and the Pillar was darkening to black from the bottom up, as if the Demi spells were some black liquid pouring into it or some heat charring its base. The pillar pulsed slowly--like a heartbeat, or a monster's sleeping breath.

The lift at the back of the bridge rose, Edea riding it. She took one look at the Crystal Pillar and turned even paler than she usually was.

"Whoever has done this must have been a person of great power," she said. "But to what purpose?"

"We'll investigate the area around the draw point," Squall said. "Make sure your GFs are equipped."

Everyone on the bridge turned to move to the lift, Nida stopping to grab his katana off the wall. Everyone was waiting for them at the base of the Ragnarok's ladder; they had decided to go on ahead, apparently.

Irvine tipped his hat as Edea got off, nodding civilly to Squall. "We found a spiral ramp over there, just a bit away from the draw point," he said. "We were going to wait for you to check it out."

"All right," Squall said.

"All _right!_" Selphie yelled, jumping in the air and holding up her nunchaku. "Let's go!"

Before Squall could say anything, Selphie, Zell, and Irvine went tearing off towards the draw point. Seifer, with a more sedate pace, followed. Squall brought a hand to his forehead.

"...after them?" Xu asked, shooting Squall an odd look.

"...after them," Squall said, starting out.

The team spread out as they moved, ready to face any enemy. When they were almost halfway there, the first of Dyne's minions appeared.

Squall quickly decided that they had definately found Dyne's base. What other reason would there be for such heavy guard?

"Ruby Dragon!" Quistis called as the huge beast lumbered out of a concealed tunnel. Squall dropped to the ground as a staggering wave of heat cut over him--heat that could easily kill someone in just one hit. He had seen it happen. Rolling towards the thing he cut upwards with his gunblade, hearing the thing bellow in pain as the sword cut a deep gash in his throat. Deep, but not deep enough. Massive claws came down in the ground just a hairsbredth away from Squall's face as he rolled away, sending a bullet into the dragon's eye as it moved its mouth to bite him in half.

Taking a split second to glance over to his comrades, Squall saw the reason no one was bothering to help him: they were all engaged otherwise. Three Hexadragons were assaulting Quistis, Nida, Laguna and Kiros, while Rinoa was trying to keep a huge, oversized Deathclaw from tearing Edea into little bitty peices. Irvine, Zell, Selphie and Seifer were trying to reach everyone else, but were somewhat hampered by the nine overgrown Jelleyes that were swarming them.

The Ruby Dragon roared as Squall brought his gunblade down on the thing's head, and raked him with its claws. Casting a simple Cure spell on himself, he was relieved to note that it actually worked.

_(Must have been something special about the Lieutenant's blade,)_ he thought.

Squall swung his blade again, pulling the trigger and sending a bullet flying into the dragon's heart through the tough, rent skin. The thing bellowed, using its last breath to try to fry Squall.

"Aaugh!" called someone as the Ruby dragon fell on its side, and Squall looked over. More monsters--lower-level monsters like Glacial Eyes and Armadodos--were beginning to trickle out of the holes. But the thing that bothered Squall the most was the huge, blue Thrustaevis who was beating its four wings in a herculean effort to raise Irvine off the ground. And, a bit to the left, the shiny, silvery Blitz who was pulling his weapon's blade out of Seifer's leg, forcing him back towards the mound of an Abyss Worm.

"Squall!" yelled Irvine as his gun dropped to the ground. Squall froze--it was obvious both needed his help, but in the time to help one, the other would be gone.

No one else was in a position to do anything. Squall spent a fraction of a second looking from Irvine to Seifer to Irvine, unsure of who to help.

_(No...) _Squall thought. _(Why am I the one this always happens to?)_

Irvine was being lifted up into the air--soon the Thrustaevis would be able to catch a thermal and fly away. Irvine had been in his team for a bit over a year--Seifer had saved his life. Who to save?

_(Make a judgement call,) _Squall told himself.

Seifer was closer. Running over as fast as he could, Squall drove his sword through the Blitz's back, pulling the trigger three times in rapid sucession as he jerked it loose. A swift swing from Seifer, and the Blitz's head rolled to the ground. Turning on his heel fast enough to raise a small cloud of dust, Squall ran towards Irvine.

By the time he got there, the Thrustaevis was so far out of blade range that trying would have been ridiculous. Glancing back over his shoulder, Squall saw that the only one with a projectile weapon it would be even moderately possible to use without hitting Irvine was Rinoa, who was still in battle with the deathclaw. Magic would have splash damage... what was there Squall could do?

Something bumped against his boot as he skidded to a halt, and Squall looked down to see the sniper rifle Irvine had won. Picking it up, he had a sudden idea.

_(But, if I miss... what the hell. He'll die if I don't, what worse could happen?  
(Simple. He could die because **I**__ killed him.)_

Bringing the rifle up to his shoulder Squall looked through the telescopic sight. _(Let's see... crosshairs go on the thing I want to die. Seems easy enough...)_

Moving the muzzle to point in the general direction of the Thrustaevis, Squall saw a veiw of Irvine (hat still on, miraculously) struggling with the huge, four-winged bird. Putting the tiny, black cross on the Thrustaevis, Squall pulled the trigger.

The recoil of the gun wasn't softened in any way, and Squall was knocked backwards as the gun hit his shoulder hard enough to give him a sizable bruise. Struggling to his feet, he glanced at Irvine's falling form.

_(What'll keep him from hitting the ground that hard?_) Squall wondered. _(Float? I don't have any Floats. What else...?)_

Squall held out a hand, wishing Stop worked against gravity. Tornado, he thought. A huge cyclone began to form around Irvine, stopping him mere centimeters from the ground and pulling him back up again. When he finally began to fall again, it wasn't nearly from the distance that it had been from the Thrustaevis's clutches. Still, it was obviously not comfortable when Irvine hit the ground.

Something ran into Squall from behind and he fell over, driving the butt of the rifle into his stomach. There was a pained gurgle, and the thing rolled off him. Squall turned and looked, seeing the long knife embedded in the Deathclaw's neck. Nida was jogging over to reclaim it. Looking around, Squall saw that most of the monsters were gone.

"Looks like the GFs are sticking to their word," Nida said as he yanked the throwing knife out of the monster's throat, using it to gesture to the dead bodies of Dyne's guards. "I didn't even know Pandemona could _do _that."

Squall didn't ask what it was Pandemona had done. Instead, he turned and made his way over to Irvine, who was lying on his back, probably unconcious. Squall kneeled next to him, casting a quick Curaga. Shaking him gently by the shoulders, Squall was mildly relieved when Irvine opened his eyes and began to cough out dust.

"Squall--" he said between coughs. "Thanks." He tried to grin. "Didn't know--you cared."

"Whatever," Squall replied automatically. _(Why not? ...**shouldn't** I care?)_ a part of him asked. "You all right?"

"I'll be--fine," Irvine said. "Just--don't make me do that again."

Squall picked up the sniper from the dirt beside him, handing it to Irvine. Wiping the Ruby Dragon's blood off of his gunblade, he sheathed it quietly and dusted himself off. Turning around, he moved towards the draw point. Glancing at the Crystal Pillar, he noticed that it was still drawing power--slowly, but with marked progress.

The rest of the team met him at the spiraling ramp, and he looked down it cautiously. Realizing that there weren't any monsters waiting to kill him, he tested the ramp to make sure it was stable. Then something in his brain connected, making him do a double-take.

_(That can't be right,)_ he thought. Stepping onto the ramp, he looked at the walls of the inside passageway. More than just walls--there was a fair amount of machinery next to the ramp. Turning to Quistis, Squall motioned her inside.

"This place look familiar?" Squall asked. Quistis's eyes narrowed--then flew open as she realized the same thing Squall had.

"Hey, what is it?" Irvine asked. "Not going to let us in on the secret?"

"This," Squall started, wondering what it all meant, "is, was, or will be the Clock Tower in Ultimecia's castle."

There was a moment of silence. Squall turned back to the ramp, thinking. He didn't like the implications.

He was standing in Ultimecia's Castle a year after her defeat, fourteen years after her death, and several generations before she was to be born.


	18. The Descent

XVIII  
_(It doesn't matter. In the end, you're alone.)  
--Squall Leonhart  
_

_

* * *

_  
Laguna held up a sphere of light, it took Squall a while to realize it was a triggered Flare stone with its energy left nebulous instead of focused and targeted. Looking around the dark ramp, he shook his head.

"Not a very nice place," he said, trying very hard to avoid Squall's eye. "But I guess you people know your way around?"

"It may have changed," Squall said, not sparing Laguna a glance. "Then, this ramp led to a clock. It would be best to assume that the rest of the castle has changed as well, and proceed accordingly."

Seifer snickered.

Squall started down the ramp, having to restain himself from drawing the gunblade. _(A difference,_) Squall saw as he stopped at a door. _(The last time the ramp was broken a further back--this area was inaccessible.)_

They _had_ gotten there eventually, of course. It had taken a fairly risky jump onto a swinging pendulum, but it had worked. That was where they had met Tiamat, Ultimecia's corrupted pet GF.

"I think it's obvious what happened here," Kiros said.

"Really?" Seifer asked scornfully. "What would that be?"

"This building was obviously part of the Centra civilizaton. Since then it was buried, and Ultimecia will, sometime in the future, excavate it, and reconstruct whetever she sees necessary."

Squall nodded. It seemed right. Stepping into the balcony where Tiamat would be waiting sometime in the distant future, he drew his gunblade as he saw the foreboding, silver-haired figure. After a moment he put it away, realizing that it was only a hologram.

There had been a change in his wardrobe, as well: instead of his olf cape he now wore something like a black tailored longcoat with armored shoulders, open in the front. Thin black-leather straps crossed his bare chest, holding a long sword sheath to his back. His hair had been tied back, but strands still hung down beside his face.

Then he looked up.

His eyes twinkled with merriment, as if he thought that their presence was a joke. "Visitors?" he asked. "How charming." They flicked over the company, taking in everyone visible. "Hello, Leonhart."

"Dyne," Squall said coldly. Dyne smiled.

"Shall we play a game?"

"No games," Squall said.

"Oh, you _are_ no fun. I had hoped so fervently that we could be friends, share our enjoyment. I think you should give me another chance. Let's play... _cat and mouse."_

_(That doesn't sound good,)_ Squall thought.

Dyne smiled, displaying unnaturally perfect teeth behind his taut lips. "Meow," he said.

The hologram disappeared.

"Squall!" Zell yelled. "Somthing big is happening topside!"

Squall darted out of the room and back up the ramp, looking out over the desert sands. Plumes of sand rose in the distance, and, squinting, Squall could see several distant, four-limbed creatures rushing towards them, all either a sickly yellow or an angry red. As one neared, its flailing, boneless arms told him what it was.

"Down the ramp!" he ordered.

"What is it?" Rinoa asked, worried.

"Propagators," Squall answered, waiting for everyone to get moving. "Dyne wants to play games with us."

Rinoa's mouth formed an "o," and she turned and ran down the spraling ramp. Squall, leading up the rear, followed--

--and was stopped by the deep, rough laugh behind him.

Turning slowly, Squall came face-to-faces with the massive form of Cerberus. The GF was balanced on the ramp with an ease that should have seemed out-of-place, but somehow didn't.

"FOOL," Cerberus barked. "A CAT-AND-MOUSE. _MORTALS!"_

_(Working with GFs is certainly never a dull experience,_) Squall thought. _(...especially when they feel like taking initiative.)_

"MORTAL GAMES. I'LL SEE YOUR CAT-AND-MOUSE!" roared another of the heads.

"RUN, MOUSE," growled the third head. "WE'LL PLAY _DOG_ WITH DYNE'S CAT!"

The GF turned and thundered up the ramp, each footfall shaking the entire structure. _(Even Cerberus can't take care of that,)_ he thought. _(There are too many. He could kill them one by one, but there are more than two of each color. They'd revive each other. And there are enough to keep him distracted while others come after us.  
(We'll trust him for now_,) Squall decided, turning to the ramp again. _(We don't have a choice. When the propagators get past him--which is inevitable, even if he** is**__immortal, we should be as far away from them as we can be.)_

As they got to the bottom of the ramp, Squall noted that the waterway outside was the same way he had seen it last--except that the bridge was in much better condition and there was a wall of dirt directly above. Whoever had cleared out the castle enough to use it hadn't bothered to expose it entirely--where Squall remembered open-air areas, there were rough-hewn earthy tunnels instead.

"Umm..." Zell said, looking down at the waterway. "This doesn't look good..."

Squall looked over the edge of the bridge to see that there was some kind of huge disturbance in the water, as if a giant fish or something was milling about. Black flashes shone through white foam-caps.

"Just get across the bridge," Squall said.

"No," Edea said. "I remember these things. Ultimecia had one, once. _No one move._"

Everyone froze. It was the first thing Edea had ever said in that commanding tone.

"What is it?" Squall asked.

"Black Wyrm," Edea replied.

"We're hiding from a worm?" Seifer asked, lip beginning to curl.

"A _wyrm_," Kiros said. "I thought those things were myths. So if we can't move, what do we do?"

Edea began to walk out onto the bridge, motioning Rinoa to come with her. As they reached the center, Edea whispered something to Rinoa. Rinoa bit her lip, nodded, and closed her eyes.

A sleek, black shape began to rise from the water, rearing up to a tremendous height and lunging at the past and present sorceresses. A blue glow encased them, and the serpent actually bounced off. Rinoa's hands were raised, and minute motions of her fingers caused the barrier to flicer and dance--

The serpent watched quietly, eyes intent on the shifting pattern of magic. Its mough gaped wide, fangs glinting in the magelight--its eyes reflected power, muscles bunching and shifting beneath its skin in time with the sorcery.

Then it blinked, exhaled one long gasp of steam, and slid back beneath the water without a sound.

As the rest of the group made their way to the bridge, Rinoa looked a little sheepish. She didn't like reminding people that she was a sorceress. It made everyone, including her, rather uncomfortable.

As they crossed the bridge and moved down into the organ room, Squall called a halt. _(This group is just a bit too big to be moving through the castle,_) he thought. "We should split up."

"All right," Irvine said amiably. "Who gets to choose the teams?"

"I will," Squall said, remembering the time at Galbadia Garden when Irvine had split up the group to his tastes. It had been... awkward, to say the least.

_(Who do I send where? I'll need to keep Edea with Rinoa, in case we need their combined expertise and power. I'll keep Seifer as far away from Zell as possible... who will I designate as leader of each party? We'll need a fair distribution of powers, and Siefer is one of the best... but I don't trust anyone around him. Laguna and Kiros shouldn't be split up, either. And they're sure as hell not coming with me. Each party should have someone who was in here before, too.  
(I hate my job.)_

"I'll take Irvine, Zell and Selphie. Nida, you take Seifer, Edea and Rinoa. Laguna, Kiros, you're with Quistis."

"All right," Irvine said.

"Nida," --he forced himself to say the next part-- "...Laguna and I will be the leaders of the groups," he said.

Seifer smirked thinly, but said nothing.

"Me?" asked Nida. Squall nodded.

_(Yes, you. I don't trust Seifer, and neither Matron nor Rinoa have any experience with this sort of thing. I hope you can handle it... Edea knows Seifer, and she may be of some help.)_

"All right, we'll split up as soon as we can to make sure we aren't being followed," Squall said when there were no objections. Turning on his heel, he began to walk away.

Stepping into the courtyard, he saw that the fountain was working. The water was lit from below with some kind of para-magic, Squall guessed. A hall lead off to the side, Squall seemed to remember a grated door or something there. Laguna, peering down it, motioned his team in. The light of his flare stone faded away, and Squall pulled out two of his own, wondering how the trick worked.

_(Just trigger and don't aim, I guess,_) he thought--and it seemed to work. Tossing one to Nida, he turned around again and moved towards the grand hall.

The door swung shut behind the two parties, and Squall looked at Nida.

"We'll check out the hatch," Nida said. "I'm sure Rinoa will be able to find her way around this place."

Squall nodded. "We'll check the main hall." Then, after a pause, he added "Good luck."

"A good luck wish? From Squall?" Nida asked. "Maybe I stand out a bit more than I thought!"

Squall hit his forehead, groaned inwardly, and led the way off into the gargoyle hall.

Nida pulled the hatch open, stepping onto the spiraling staircase. "This would be the wine cellar," Rinoa said. "Last time there was some monster here, and a hidden Aura draw point, but that was about all."

Nida shrugged and walked down anyway. Looking at the massive barrels, he said "Whoever lived here must have been a pretty heavy drinker."

"Dyne lives here," Rinoa said.

"The man loves his wine," Nida responded.

Taking a step back, Nida eyed the room a bit more carefully. The floor was a uniform stone-grey, the stairs were little more then slabs of stone fixed in a rising spiral around a pillar. Racks of wine bottles and kegs and barrels of other drinks lined the walls.

"The place looks... different, somehow," Rinoa said.

"Hey, several generations pass and the place is bound to change a little," Nida said. Looking at one of the two three-meter wide barrels pushed up against the wall, he said "Is it just me, or does that thing have a door?"

Seifer walked up to it, giving it a good thump with the gunblade hilt. From the sound it made, it was obviously hollow. Giving it a harder thump, three of the huge planks fell away, one almost hitting Nida. Inside was a row of lights, and another hatch in the floor.

"...I _know_ it didn't do that before," Rinoa said, stepping in. "Think Dyne will be through there?"

"Maybe," Nida said. "Let's go and see."

-

"This place always gave me the creeps," Irvine said as he stepped into the hall full of gargoyles, the hatch in the center of the floor behind them closing as Nida's team moved through. "I keep thinking they're going to come alive or something."

"Don't say stuff like that, it might come true!" Selphie said, giggling. "Didn't your grandmother ever tell you that?"

"Where'd you get _that?_" Irvine asked, knowing full well that Selphie had never known her grandmother.

"Sir Laguna said it to Kiros once," Selphie said. Squall moved on down the hall, wondering if it was really such a good idea to bring Selphie along with Irvine. (_I should have sent her with Laguna,_ he thought. _She'd be so happy... just **happy**?__ ...she'd be jumping up and down for days.)_ He paused, glancing up the walls. Dozens of carved eyes stared down at him. _(...so maybe it's a good thing I didn't,)_ he finished to himself.

"I have _seen_ gargoyles come alive," Irvine said.

"Right," Zell said. "Sure you have."

"I have!" Irvine snapped. "Squall, you were there. Tell this disbeliever that I saw it!"

"Zell," Squall started out. Then, seeing Irvine's mildly smug smile, he continued "Irvine's delusional. Just ignore him."

Irvine's face dropped into a surprised look. "What? Hey! You remember, at the Deling Parade? Squall? _Squall!"_

Easily managing to keep a straight face, Squall moved off down the passageway. Stepping into the main hall, the first thing he noticed was the floor. What had been (would be?) a red-tiled floor was now a ballroom-smooth sheet of some black, shiny stone with silver inlay. The silver was in the shape of a top view of a stylized serpent, with its head in front of the bottom of the stairs.

_(...what **is** that supposed to represent?)_ Squall stared at it, joined by the rest of his team. Understanding one's enemy was a useful thing, and any hint could lead to greater understanding--but the serpent wasn't helping Squall figure anything out. _  
_

"The man loves his snakes," Zell said.

"Which way?" Selphie asked. "Ooh, I know! Let's go ride the chandelier!"

"No!" Zell said. "You are _not_ getting me on that thing."

Squall remembered the chandelier at the top of the stairs. It couldn't support much weight at all, and whenever anyone got on it would drop to the lower level. Zell had ridden it a couple times, and each time the jolt when it hit had been enough to send him flying. He had never managed to land well.

"It might be a good idea to check out that room," Squall said.

"All right!" Selphie said, and bolted up the stairs. Irvine followed, and Zell looked at Squall, scratching his head. "You can't be serious, man," he said.

"Why not?" Squall asked, turning to walk up the stairs.

"That thing is evil."

_(There's no such thing as evil... especially not from a simple machine.)_ Squall decided not to reply. Zell could come or not, Squall didn't really care.

Stepping through the door, Squall saw that Selphie had already taken her ride, and was waving to someone coming out of the courtyard: Laguna.

It gave him an idea.

Looking over he saw that the lever near the wall was still there, "Laguna," he called.

"Huh? Wha--oh, I see you," Laguna said, with a halfhearted wave. Quistis waved more enthusiastically from behind him. "How's the weather up there?"

"...whatever. Could you press that lever over there?"

"Sure thing," Laguna said, moving over to the lever. The last time Squall had used it it had made it so that the chandelier wouldn't drop, making it a convenient way to walk across to the balcony. This time, however, it seemed to do something different: A very large door in the floor just underneath the chandelier opened.

"What's that?" Zell asked, coming up behind Squall.

"Get on," Squall said.

Zell sighed. "Fine."

Irvine followed, Squall bringing up the rear. Making the way across the chandelier towards the balcony, Zell stopped cold when the chandelier began its charactarisitc shaking.

"Oh, man," Zell moaned. "Laguna! Push that thing down a bit more!"

"Uggh..." Laguna answered. "It's down as far as it will go."

"Keep walking, Zell," Irvine said. "If it falls, it falls."

"If it falls, I fall," Zell said. Closing his eyes, he took another step.

The chandelier dropped like a stone through the huge open hatch in the floor. Selphie watched it go.

"I guess I'll just stay with you," she said to Laguna, smiling.

-

"Whoa!"

Nida jumped as he heard the noise back uphill in the way he had come. Drawing his katana, he moved over to the back of the group.

"Stay back," he warned, wondering what he was going to have to face.

"Ah-aa-aa_aaa!"_ came a voice from the darkness, and then Zell appeared, rolling head-over-heels down the slope. Behind his Irvine jogged up, and behind _him_ was a mildly exasperated Squall.

"You really do have to make a scene all the time, don't you, Zell?" asked Seifer, omitting the "chicken-wuss" in Edea's presence.

"Shut up," Zell said as he made it to his feet and dusted himself off.

Rinoa jammed a hand to her mouth and turned away, shaking.

"It's not funny!" Zell snapped.

"What happened to 'splitting up'?" Nida asked.

"The chandelier had other plans," Irvine said, smiling at Nida's confused look.

"Where are we?" Squall asked.

"A side passage leading off from the wine cellar," Nida said, sheathing the katana.

"Seems good enough," Squall said. "Shall we search here?"

"Sure," Nida said. "There's an intersection down that way a bit, we'll take the left fork, you take the right one."

"Fair enough," Squall acknowledged.

The teams started down the hall, but Rinoa caught Squall's arm and pulled him back.

"I... want to ask you something, I guess," she said.

"What?"

Rinoa looked at her boot, boring a hole in the ground with it. "I was wondering if, maybe, I could sort of come with you?"

_(Why?) _ "That would leave the other team with no one who's been here before."

"I know, but... couldn't you send Zell with them or something?"

"Zell? With Siefer? Never." Squall shook his head. "I don't want anyone dying on me."

Rinoa giggled. "But, maybe you and Nida could just switch? So..."

"Rinoa." Squall watched her, trying to make out the problem. "What's wrong?"

"I dunno, it's just that..." Rinoa paused. "Squall, I have a bit of a confession."

"What?"

"Well, remember a year ago, when we were fighting Adel, and I knew that Laguna had said I would have to receive Adel's powers, and he said it would be hard on me, but I agreed anyway?"

Squall nodded.

"Well, when Adel died, I.. wasn't thinking too clearly." She colored. "And I tried to receive her powers, but I just couldn't. Part of me didn't want to. And I saw _him_ come to receive her powers, and I thought that he wouldn't be able to because if I couldn't, and I was already a sorceress, then how could he, 'cause he wasn't even a girl? But he saw me too, and... and I'm scared." She looked up, trying to impresssupon Squall what she meant. "He know who I am. And--and _what_."

Squall made a sort of half-shrug. "Seifer and Nida are perfectly capable--"

"I _know,_ at least, part of me knows, but... but I want to be with you. It's not just 'cause I'm scared of him," she continued, hurriedly, "I keep thinking something bad's gonna happen to _you..."_

On an impulse, Rinoa threw her arms around Squalls neck. Awkwardly, he patted her on the back. After a moment she let go, stepping back. "I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"It's okay," Squall said with half a mind. (_Damn_,) he thought. _(Now what am I going to do? Rinoa obviously doesn't want to be away from me, but I need to keep the power balance equal. I can't take the risk that all our good people will get wiped out, but I can't send anyone else with Seifer...)_

His hand leaped to his temple, where a pounding headache had begun to develop. "You and Nida could switch places," she suggested again.

_That would leave me with Seifer,_ Squall thought. _Unequal distribution of powers._

"Here: if Edea agrees, I'll switch you and Irvine," Squall said. _(Irvine doesn't really have that much against Seifer, and Edea should keep them both in line. **If**__ Edea doesn't want to keep Rinoa with her.)_

"Thank you," Rinoa said, smiling with genuine relief. "I'll go ask her now!"

Rinoa went running back down the hall, and Squall followed at a walk. _(I really hope this won't be too much trouble,)_ he thought. Arriving at the intersection, he saw that Rinoa was beaming. "All right," she said. "I'm with you!"

Irvine thumped him on the back and whispered something that sounded like "Go get 'em, tiger!" into his ear. Squall pulled away long enough to give Irvine an aggravated glare before Rinoa pulled him down the right passage and Zell followed.

About four minutes later, Zell paused. "Whoa," he said, jumping back. "Look at this!"

Squall moved up to where Zell was, looking at the swirling magenta beam that was in the center of the huge cavern he saw. "Looks like the source of the draw point," he said. I'm guessing Dyne can't be too far off."

"Look over there," Zell said, pointing. "It's an elevator.

"Two elevators," Squall said. "Looks like a simple machine: both would have to be loaded simultaniouslty to go down. Otherwise one will get stuck and serve as a break for the other's rope."

Zell looked at the elevators, then looked at Squall. "Is this it, then? Are we going up against Dyne?"

_(Let's... hope so._) "Maybe."

There was a noise behind them: the thundering of massive feet. Squall drew his gunblade, backing into the cavern. Rinoa readied her Valkyrie projectile, while Zell curled both hands into fists, showing the light glinting off of the metal barbs.

A flash of yellow scales, a thundering, trumpeting roar, and Squall was on his back, staring up at the massive pillar of magic energy. An Ultima spell blasting from both hands, he fended off the yellow Propagator. Just his luck that he had to run into one of the most violent breeds--the Yellow was the one that had literally run him down on the Ragnarok.

The thing cringed at the Ultima spell, but it was tougher than its space-bred counterparts and it tried to claw Squall with a massive, flailing arm. A bolt of raw energy flew into it from behind and it whirled on Zell who, not willing to take the time to use a proper spell, had just thrown energy at the thing like Seifer had done to Squall during the training bout.

The Valkyrie flew into the beast's shoulder, severing about half of the muscle there. The Propagator's right arm twitched and fell to the its side, useless, as the cable attatching the projectile to Rinoa's arm brace retracted. The Propagator brought its other arm down on Zell, who fell to the ground and rolled to avoid a frenzied slash. A dark, black cloud enveloped the thing's eyes as Squall cast Blind on it, and it roared in rage. Another hit from the Valkyrie severed all but a few tendons in its neck and the monster fell, dead, into the pillar of energy. Within a seconds, only a few wispy white flakes of ash remained.

"Welcome to Centra," Zell yelled at the pillar. _"Booya!"_

"The elevators," Squall said. "We need to get down to Dyne. We need to get this over as quickly as we can."

"Why?" Zell asked. Then, looking at the pillar, his jaw slacked.

"Oh, no..." Rinoa started.

The pillar itself was normal--still being sucked upwards. But the black tendrels creeping down it were definately not good.

"Two elevators, three people," Zell said. "How're we--oh."

Zell stepped into one of the elevators, closing the door behind him. Squall grimaced. _(Why does everyone have to assume that about us?) _he wondered. _(...I would be **perfectly happy** to have an elevator to myself.)_

"Come on, Squall," Rinoa said, pulling on his sleeve. The elevator was plenty large, which was good. But, as the doors slid closed, Squall saw that he was definately not going to get out of the car without some sort of conversation.

"So..." Rinoa said, folding her hands behind her back, quirking her head to one side. "Everything that's been going on the past few days. You must... really have hated Seifer, didn't you? All of you."

_(It wasn't that simple,_) Squall thought. "We had our reasons. He didn't make it easy forgive him."

"And what about now that he's back?"

_(I don't know. Seifer has his own agenda. I'm too confused to figure it out. Now, everyone seems to be ignoring him, except for Zell. That's probably good--we don't have time for vendettas.)_ Squall shrugged.

"What was he like?" Rinoa asked, eliciting a confused glance from Squall. "I mean, before all this happened. Before I met him."

_(Seifer has always been Seifer.) _ "About the same way he is now."

"He always seemed... confindent. Like he knew what was going on, and he knew how to handle it."

_(You're mistaking arrogance for confidence, Rinoa.)_

"He gave you that, didn't he?" Rinoa asked, pointing to the scar on Squall's forehead. "You know, it's strange that you've never told me--but I guess I kinda knew." She lowered her hand. "When was it?"

Squall regarded her without surprise. "The morning of the SeeD exam."

Rinoa giggled. "No wonder you didn't want to dance that night. You must still have had a concussion, and you were just too stubborn to admit it." She smiled winningly. "That sounds like you, doesn't it?"

"...whatever."

"...whatever," Rinoa echoed, giggling. "But, you should try being nicer for a bit. I mean, you're sort of everyone's leader--" she paused when Squall winced. "What is it? No, _really?_ Come on... I won't tell anyone."

Squall shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

"Tell me anyway."

Squall stared at her for a moment--and glanced away. He shrugged. "I don't know. ...why I'm the leader. I don't know."

"That should be obvious," Rinoa said. "You're the best one."

'No, but..." Squall paused. "I never _wanted_ to be a leader. I just didn't have a choice. And I always thought it was just until the Ultimecia thing passed. But then Cid disappears, and I'm stuck with Garden. And..." he grimaced, as if he was tasting the words and finding them rancid. "Never mind. It doesn't matter."

"And you're not goint to tell me anything else, is that it?" Rinoa sighed. "Someday," she said. "_Some_ day I will get you to speak your mind, Squall Leonhart."

_(I hope not_.)

The elevator ground to a halt, and Squall moved for the door. Quickly, Rinoa stepped in front of him.

"Smile," she said.

"...what?"

"I'm not letting you off the elevator unless you smile. Like you did at the Garden Festival. _That_ smile," Rinoa declared.

"We don't have time for this," Squall said.

"It doesn't take that long to smile. You're just being difficult."

_(...**I'm** being difficult?)_ "Later," he said.

"You promise?"

_(If it will get you out of the way.)_ "Yeah. Sure. I promise."

"Good." Rinoa stepped aside, letting Squall tug the doors open. "You're too serious, Squall," she said.

"I'll second that," Zell said from outside the elevator car.

"We _do_ have a job to do."

"All right," Zell said. "But when we're done, you're playing a game of Triple Triad with me. Whether you like it or not."

_(You sure you want that, Zell? I have a whole deck of rare cards Quistis gave me... but if you want to humiliate yourself, I've got no problem with that._) "Whatever," Squall said, thinking about the eighteen GF cards that Quistis had wrangled up from Hyne knew where for his birthday. It was annoying--everyone was trying to get him to "have more fun." _(I have as much fun as I need, thank you.)_

"Good! It's a deal," Zell said.

_(I wonder if there's a tactful way of saying I'd rather go three rounds hand-to-hand with a Wendigo._)

There was a noise behind them, and Squall jumped. Turning, he saw the elevators being pulled back up away from them. _(One way trip,_) he realized.

"Which way?" Rinoa asked, pointing to the two tunnels in the room. One led upwards, the other took a quick turn and apparently went down.

"I'm guessing that will be the exit," Squall said, pointing to the one leading up. "So we'll take the other one."

"All right."

Squall tightened his grip on his gunblade, and started off down the hall. He was about to pull out another Flare stone when he entered the tunnel, but the torches on the walls came on automatically as he passed them.

"Dyne is showing off," Zell observed. Squall nodded.

"The Crystal Pillar is almost full," Rinoa said, her eyes losing their focus. "I--I think that when it gets full, Dyne will be able to get... a lot of power?"

"Damn! We'd better hurry, then," Zell said. Squall nodded.

"We don't have time to double back and meet up with everyone, so we'll have to see how far we can make it on our own. Let's just hope this doesn't turn out to be another Ultimecia. ...Dyne hasn't had nearly as long to prepare as she did, so it should be easier." _(I hope.)_

The tunnel widened, then ended abruptly at a huge portal. The air cracked and sparked, a standing film of distortion--like nothing so much as a gigantic flat soap bubble, beyond which thin film there was another space, practically another world.

Squall glanced at Rinoa, who nodded, and Zell, who shrugged--and steeled himself. He waited until they came up beside him to step through. He was aware of his companions up to the moment he arrived on the other side--and halted in his tracks.

He was in a large antechamber with what appeared to be two large stalagmites forming pillars beside an iron door. Through the door, meditative sounds could be heard--and the power of real, true magic could be felt, thrumming under the senses like a deep note from a bell that wouldn't fade. The air quivered with power, faint breezelets dancing back and forth across his skinwith all imagineable temperatures--searing and freezing and cool and warm and perfect and hellish--and Squall realized for a moment how _incredibly_ out of his league he was. But no... there was abundant power in Centra, but Dyne could not possibly control it all. That was what he needed the Crystal Pillar for--a focus for those powers.

Dyne's defeat here might end a war before it had a change to begin. End him, and they could go home safe.

But, turning, he could see that there was no portal behind him. There was the doorway to a set of stairs, stairs that presumably led upwards to the castle. But that wasn't the thing he noticed. He noticed that Rinoa and Zell weren't there.

That he was alone.


	19. The Final Deed

XIX_  
"The three things most often mistaken for courage are stupidity, suicidal tendencies, and the lack of all other options._"_  
--Estharan saying  
_

* * *

Squall's blood was rushing past his ears. 

He could count his own heartbeats, resonant as they were. We was trying not to panic--trying to maintain control in the stench of sorcery and the empty chamber. _(I can do this,)_ he told himself--without really believing. _(I've been alone before. I've **fought** alone before. This is... just another challenge.)_

There was an echoing emptiness in his mind. One hand went up to his neck, gripping the Griever pendant that hung there--the strongest of the GFs, the one corrupted far in the future whom he had fought and vanquished. _(The GFs said they'd come when they were needed. Where are they...?_

_(...I can't wait for them. Every second that passes is another spell the Crystal Pillar gains.)_ He grimaced to himself. _(I__f you wanted to turn back you should have a long time ago. You can't now.)_

He stepped forward, and the doors swung open before him.

Laughter sounded from the room beyond. "What did I tell you?" asked a voice. "I am the cat, and you are the mouse. And a most unusual mouse indeed, to think that you could challenge me."

_(He knows I'm here, he knows I'm listening. I can't put this off any longer.) _ Steeling himself, he drew his sword and stepped across the threshold.

"Perhaps not a mouse after all," Dyne said from hid sculpted throne. An obsidian cobra's head reared behind him, ruby eyes glinting--its coils seemed almost to constrict in the torchlight, gripping the silk pillow upon which Dyne rested. His sword lay across his lap, gleaming. He looked like nothing so much as a warrior monk, some throwback to the Eastern chivalric days--his hair gathered behind his head, the sword and throne mere extentions of his will. "Perhaps you are a weasel, who burrows into a rabbit's den only to find the fox has taken up residence. Either takes courage. I _am_ impressed, dear Leonhart. Do not doubt that."

"Give up, Dyne," Squall said. _(I've killed sorceresses before. You're less of a threat than you think.)_

"You do not regard me with the revulsion the others do," Dyne laughed. "You do not see me as evil."

_(...I don't believe in evil,) _Squall thought.

"Of course not," Dyne chortled. "Two men meet and war, each with their differences, each in their own right. Thus speaks the legendary Leonhart, philosopher at war."

"You can read my mind."

"Of course," Dyne said. "Your vaunted GF, Bahamut did the same thing? 'Maybe we were born... only to fight'? I know you, my friend."

"You're not a Guardian Force." _(And you're **not** my friend.)_

Dyne only smiled. "You are a clever one. And since you believe so firmly in differing perspectives, perhaps you could learn to share mine. I offer you a chance to join me."

_(Never.)_

Dyne frowned. "I cannot allow my rivals to remain unchecked. Though you are no sorcerer, you are my rival nonetheless. I offer you one choice, join me voluntarily, or make me find some other method to nullify the threat you represent. So, what will it be? Do you join me, or do you die here?"

_(Neither.)_

Dyne stood, raising one hand in a practiced gesture.

The dors behind Squall clanged open, and a soldier entered--dragging withhim a bruised and dazed Laguna. He threw the president to the ground before Dyne, hefting a massive black sword--which he placed to Laguna's throat, pressing down so that the flat indented the skin.

"Your father," Dyne murmured. "There is no love lost between you, but would you see him die?"

There was a noise from the stairway, but Squall and Dyne both ignored it.

Squall looked at Laguna for a second, then turned back to Dyne. _(You think this will convince me to join you? Why? So I can know that I'm in the employ of someone who resorts to hostages and blackmail?)_

_(Never.)_

Anger began to show beneath Dyne's calm facade. "Kill--"

"Hey!" someone yelled from the doorway. A Death spell triggered behind the soldier, and he fell over, blade clattering to the ground. Seifer ran in, gunblade cocked and ready.

"Nice timing," Laguna said, rubbing his neck and standing up. Seemingly out of nowhere he produced a machine gun, nodding to Dyne civilly.

"You _dare_ challenge me?" Dyne growled, fingers curling around his sword. "You dare face me--I, Master of the Pillar, Dyne Ascendant, Sorcerer and--"

"Shut up," Seifer said.

Dyne raised his sword, swung into a ready position--half-crouched, blade high, two fingers bracing the weapon, his face twisted into a mask of hate and fury. "Fear me," he said. "I am power incarnate. I give you one last chance."

Glancing at Laguna, Squall saw the iron determination in his eyes. "I won't leave you again," Laguna said.

Squall snorted. _(We don't have time to be sentimental. Concentrate on the fight, Laguna.)_

He glanced at Seifer. The renegade was smiling, Hyperion at the ready. "Don't think this is for you, Squally," Seifer said. "This one is for _me."_

Squall turned back to Dyne. Laguna and Seifer--dubious fighting companions at the best of times, but now they were all Squall had. He looked at Dyne.

He drew his sword, stood at guard.

"We're ready for you, Dyne," he said. _(Bring it on.)_

_- _

_(The enemy, the blade, and the magic. Forget the pain. Forget your allies. Those three things are all that matter...)_

Dyne fought like a dragon.

Lithe and serpent-quick, he spun and danced around the blades that sought him, deflected the bullets that snapped around him, kept himself at the center of hissing fray incomprehensible to anyone outside the moment. Sorcery cloaked him, so that at times he seemed to have no substance, at times too much--twin blades sang and cut where there was only one, illusions drew and deflected attacks as if they were as solid as flesh and adamant. He moed faster than eyes could trace--almost faster than blades could follow.

But he was one man, and not invincible--and in hunters' symphony, his attackers were bringing him down.

In dodging Squall's strikes he found himself cornered and harried by Seifer's, in parrying Seifer he found himself in the line of Squall's sweeps, and in evading both he put himself in the clear for Laguna's shots--his robe was dirtied with blood, his skin gleaming with sweat, and while he gave as good as he got he couldn'tkeep up.

He fell, gasping, staggering back, holding the blade between himself and his adversaries like a refuge. And the fighters circled, holding him at bay.

"You..." Dyne began, raising a hand to the gaping wound just below his hairline. _"You..."_ he tried again, voice choked with rage.

_(...is that it? Did we win?)_

Dyne pulled back his lips into a snarl, raising his sword high. The blade was bloodstained--whose blood, Squall wasn't sure. Some was his.

Dyne brought the sword down on the ground, leaning on it as he would a walking stick. Head bent, hair falling over his eyes, sides heaving, he looked... almost pitiable.

But not quite.

"...this... isn't it..." Dyne said, collapsing onto the ground. With a supreme effort of will, he raised his blade. "I will... _not_... be _vanquished_..."

The blade fell.

_"Hah!"_ Seifer yelled. "We did it! We won!"

"Yeaaah!" Laguna yelled. Squall stared at Dyne for a bit longer, thinking _(It **can't** be that easy. Nothing concerning sorceresses and sorcerers is **that** easy...)_

From deep within the Castle, something laughed.

**_Final sorcery!_** a voice rumbled, echoing from the walls and through the passageways like deep dark throats. _**Earthshake and flarestorm. This castle will end!**_

_(...just for once, I would like **not** to be right,_) Squall thought.

"Does... that mean what I think it means?" Laguna asked.

Squall nodded. "Run."

Thankfully, Seifer didn't argue. As all three turned to run for the stairs, there was a low, hiss behind them. Hands on their weapons, they turned back.

The throne was uncoiling, red eyes blinking. Its mouth opened, fangs as sharp as blades glinting in the light. A long tongue flicked out, scenting the blood in the air. Its scales gleamed like armor, hard and unforgiving.

_(...**not** good!)_ "_Run_! Next intersection, split up!" _(It can't follow all three of us--)_

Laughter and the serpent following them, they bolted through the halls.

The next intersection had five roads, and without a word, Squall took the center path. He could hear the footsteps of his companions fading away behind him.

**_Final sorcery,_** the dread voice echoed. _**Come forth, children of chthonic night. End!**_

Squall jumped back as a Grendel appeared in front of him, snarling. Ramming his sword into the thing's neck and pulling the trigger, he sidestepped as it raked him with its claws. It spat, snarled and tried to turn enough to bring its tail blade into play--hard, in the narrow tunnel, where there was barely enough room to dodge. Ramming a Flare spell into it just as he stabbed through its ribcage, Squall watched as the huge brown-blue monster collapsed. Running up the hall again, he wondered just how many "children" there were.

There was a flash of red light from one side, and Squall brought his gunblade up again. Lowering it as he saw the tiny, green form of Carbuncle, he took a moment to wonder what the GF was doing.

Flicking an ear at him, the GF bounded off up the passageway, red jewel casting a ghastly light. Squall, with a moment's hesitation, followed.

Carbuncle led him through an insanely twisted, convoluted route, with plenty of turns and enough dips and hills that Squall wondered if they weren't going in circles. Carbuncle seemed to know the way to avoid the monsters--more than once he would pull Squall into a side tunnel just as a Blue Dragon would lumber past, or as some winged abomination Squall had never seen before would cut through the air to one side of them.

If Carbuncle had any doubts as to where he was bringing Squall, he didn't show it. Finally, they burst into a circular chamber, only about as big as the Ragnarok's passenger seat. With a last ear-flick, Carbuncle dived into a hole in the ground that had previously not been there.

Something huge pinned him against a wall, and Squall turned to stare into Bahamut's formidable face. "Too late!" The GF hissed. "All this--and still too late!"

"What--"

Bahamut silenced him with a look. "There are too many of these creatures, and I cannot dare stay any longer. But I will give you power--"

Unimaginable power began to flood into Squall, more powerful then a hundred Ultimas--more powerful than _five_ hundred Ultimas! But it was just raw power, and Squall met with the same difficulty Dyne had: he had absolutely no way to control it.

"--power to do what you may need to do," the GF continued. "_We_ must leave now. Do not seek to call us."

_(What was that all about? ...what's that?)_ Squall froze, hearing a noise behind him. His hand almost leaped to his gunblade--

"Squall!"

Squall turned to see Quistis, chain whip ready, running towards him from an adjoining hall. "What's happened? What's going on?"

"I think Dyne may be dead. Possibly," Squall said, "but he wants to take us with him if he is."

"We can't go back this way," Quistis said, pointing the way she had come. "It's clogged with monsters."

Squall looked at the two other halls. one lead up, and one lead down. "We'll just keep taking every hall that leads up," he said. "We'll hope it gets us to the Castle."

"Squall--" Quistis said, looking down the third corridor and pointing. Squall moved over, and looked.

The corridor was fairly straight for a long distance, and well-lit. It helped to see the the roiling black mass of people at the far end.

"We need to get out of here," Quistis said. Squall nodded.

"That passageway," he said.

Both ran. The passageway branched and split numerous times, but there was always one clear path leading upwards.

Until they got to the armory.

Qusitis skidded to a halt, looking around the rows of armor. There was only one entrance, and one exit: a tiny air vent that would obviously not hold two people.

"It was a trap?" Quistis asked.

_(No, that--can't be it. There would be a thousand easier ways. We must have taken a wrong turn--)_

"The last intersection is too far back--they'd be there by now!"

_(There's no turning back. There hasn't been any turning back since we entered SeeD. There hasn't been a single thing from which we could ever back down. Did it really take me this long to figure that out?)_

"Squall," Quistis asked, turning to stare at him. "What are we going to _do?"_

Squall stood there for a moment, considering the options. The odd encounter with Bahamut popped into his mind:

_"...power to do what you may need to do..."_

"Help me into one of these things," Squall said, moving over to the armor. Quistis balked.

"What?"

"Help me into the armor," Squall said, taking off his jacket and opening the torso of the armor.

"You can't be serious!" Quistis said. "Don't you remember what Odine said: ultimate power, infinite loyalty?"

"To someone who's already dead," Squall said, thinking _(Dead? Maybe. Maybe **not**. But this is the only way at least one__ of us will get out alive. Maybe both...)_ "We have maybe one chance to get out of here alive. Help me."

"I am _not_ goint to let you do this, Squall," Qusitis said.

"We don't have another option."

"Then find one!"

_(Damn... don't make me do this)._ the look on Quistis's face told him he had no choice. He had _never_ had to pull rank before, but there was a first time for everything.

"Quistis," he snapped, hating to have to treat her this way. _(She'll never forgive me for this, even if she sees her way to forgiving herself... but, dammit, we don't _have_ another choice!_) "This isn't a _request!_ This isn't _optional._ This is a _direct goddam order_ from your _commander_, because we don't _have_ another choice. Now _help me into that suit!"  
_  
Quistis looked shocked--then she looked hurt. "Yes, _sir,"_ she said bitterly, twining her hands together to serve as a brace for Squall to step on. Pulling himself into the armor, Squall felt it close around him and shrink. Metal wiring pressed against his skin, bitterly cold.

Handing Quistis his jacket, he said "Go through the air vent. If nothing else, it will hold you until I'm finished here."

_"Yes_, sir," she said, pulling herself into the vent. With a last look at Squall, she began to crawl through.

It took Squall a moment to get used to the suit again, but he found that it was easier with the jacket. It was easy to turn to the entrance and begin walking out, and the jacket even seemed to grant him some amount of night vision--though how it did, he didn't know.

Walking downwards, he hoped that what he was about to do wouldn't bury all of his companions. But he knew it would work.

_(Several generations from now, Ultimecia will excavate the castle and levitate it. At that time, none of these structures exist. Something happened between then and now to cause that. So this has to work. ...it's been preordained_._  
(Hyne, I hate prophecy.) _

The army turned a corner and saw him, pausing. "You're heading the wrong way," one of them said. "Turn around and join us."

_(Never.)_

If one hundred Ultima's worth of power could be call extrodinary results from the armor, who knew what Bahamut's Own power would do? It would cause an overload, certainly. What else?

_(Well, we're about to find out.)_

Just like a junction. He could feel the paths and receptacles with his mind, move the magic that burned mental fingers. Pouring all the energy into the armor, he could feel it overload, magic lapping out, overriding sense and contol. Then, a blinding flash of light, an incredible concussion of power--then nothing.

Elsewhere in the Castle the black-and-silver floor shattered, revieling the red tiles beneath.

The stone stairs in the wine cellar crumbled, but for the last five. Half of the stone floor dissolved into dust, shaken by impossible resonance.

The spiral ramp in the clock tower snapped and broke at a weak point, making the balcony inaccessable. Three boards fell and got lodged in the ramp, creating a bypass of sorts.

The door beneath the chandelier jammed shut, nearly fused as magic warped and twisted through the room.

Squall, swimming in impossible awareness, buoyed by the flow of magic within which he was lost, stopped to think _(self-fufilling prophecy,_) before his synapses overloaded.


	20. Ill Omens

XX_  
"Locked here, with a body you cannot move, a sight you cannot alter... you listen to a voice that is not your own, take actions never in accordance with your own desires... You obey the vagaries of Summons, place yourself in the line of duty for a master unchosen, unwished. This is the life of a Guardian Force. May you never know it in kind."  
--Bahamut  
_

_

* * *

_

Above the dry dust of Centra, beneath a flat blue sky, the Ragnarok slid into the air with the moan on engines and the rush of displaced air. The Crystal Pillar stood behind it, dark and brooding, malevolent in the low sun. In the dragonship's cockpit, it was a solemn gathering indeed that watched it fall away.

"Maybe he's still alive," Rinoa suggested hopefully.

"Yeah!" Zell said, looking up. "I mean--it's _Squall_. _Nothing_ can kill _Squall_."

"It's possible. He might be," Quistis said. "...but I'm not sure that's the option we should be hoping for."

Everyone turned to stare.

"How can you say something like that?" Rinoa demanded.

Quistis sighed. "He did something with the armor," she said. "The way Odine explained it, the more power you pour into the armor, the more you fall under Dyne's control."

Stunned silence gripped the room. "Then--" Zell started. Quistis nodded.

"Then if he's not dead, he's just become our worst enemy."

"But... Dyne is dead, isn't he?"

"If you're willing to take Seifer's word on it, yes. But I don't think so." Qusitis turned back to the window. "Remember Ultimecia. It took more than one battle to kill her."

"But..." Rinoa started, then turned away. "What if he _is_ alive?"

"Then we'll have to go up against him," Seifer said from the lift. Everyone jumped. "Just like you had to go up against me."

"We can't do that!" Selphie yelped. "He's--"

"Then you'd better hope he's dead," Seifer said. "Because if not, we'll be fighting him. It's inevitable."

Quistis nodded sadly. "I wish I could say you were wrong, Seifer," she said.

-

A black ceiling above him. The smell of ash and incense in the air around him. Metal wiring warm against his skin.

Squall opened his eyes to a room unmistakably Dyne's.

Soft laughter echoed from somewhere within the room. He tried to turn his head, but his muscles wouldn't obey.

"You fought well," Dyne said, "and did much damage--to me, to my army, to my Castle. But I think it was worth it. Don't you? Sit up, my boy."

Squall sat up without his own control. Trying to move his head again, he found he could. Looking down, he saw that he was wearing the black combat jacket. He made to rip it off--but his hand stopped inches away, and no matter how he tried, he oculdn't move it closer.

"Marvelous creation, isn't it?" Dyne breathed. "From this point onwards, you will not eat, sleep, breathe or blink unless I decree you may. You are _mine,_ Leonhart, and this prize makes the sacrifice worth it."

Squall turned to him, finding that Dyne had granted him at least that much freedom. His gunblade was still strapped to his side, if he could just--

He froze again as Dyne exercised his control. "None of that, now," he said. "Bad manners, you see, to attack your master. Look at me, Leonhart."

And without his control, he turned.

Dyne rested on a bed of black pillows--skin unbroken and unblemished, without any trace of the wounds he had been dealt. Even his hair was perfectly in order, cascading down across bare shoulders--he almost glowed, pale form obvious against the dark setting.

Dyne watched him, appraising him as a master might a beloved pet. "SeeD Squall Leonhart," he said, voice melodic with its own satisfaction, "sworn killer of Sorceresses, slayer of Ultimecia, hero of renown and stature, you are mine. My knight. My second. My lieutenant. You will serve me, obey me, l--you will do as I command. Do you understand me?"

Squall's voice said "Yes," though Squall said no such thing.

"Now bow."

The jacket forced him to his knees as Dyne looked on. "Good. My guards will show you to your quarters. Do not attempt to remove the jacket. It is, I fear, quite impossible. It won't let you."

Squall tried to say something, but couldn't.

"I will send for you if I have need of you," Dyne said. "Until then, you are free to do as you like." A pause. "To a degree."

And he laughed.

**--End of Part One--**


	21. Prodigal Son

**---DARK LEGION---**

** --PART TWO--**

I_  
"Seifer? Don't trust him, never have, never will."  
--Zell Dincht

* * *

_

Seifer Almasy stared up at the bottom of the next bunk in the Fisherman's Horizon hotel, wondering if Irvine and Quistis were up yet. He was surprised they had allowed him to come all the way back out to Fisherman's Horizon to pick up his posse--Fujin, the silver-haired girl with the left eyepatch, and Raijin--the burly, slightly overenthusiastic boy. That Quistis had insisted he have an escourt was hardly surprising--they still didn't quite trust him. Which was ok--he hadn't really given them a _reason_ to trust him yet.

Mayor Dobe was only too happy to get Fujiin and Raijin out of his city, after they had announced that they had tried to poison the leaders of an invasion that had, somehow, never arrived. _The man's insane,_ Seifer thought. _One moment he's begging us to fight, the next he's back to being Mr. Obsessive Pacifist._

_Must be the sea air._

"Hey, Seifer, wake up, ya know?" called Raijin's voice from outside the room. "It's almost noon, ya know?"

"LAZY," snapped Fujin.

"Uggh," Irvine said from the bunk just above Seifer. "I was having such a nice dream, too..."

"You don't need to be asleep for that, Irvine," Quistis said from the top bunk. "It occupies your mind every hour of the day."

"You may be right about that," Irvine conceeded in an amused tone.

Seifer rolled over, realized the bed wasn't as wide as he thought, and cursed as he hit the floor. Standing up, he reached for his trademark trenchcoat, the white one with the red cross-sword on each arm. Throwing Irvine's tan coat on the "sharpshooter," he ran a hand through his hair absently. He didn't want to leave Fisherman's Horizon, the town in the middle of Horizon Bridge, the more-or-less derelict intercontinental railroad. While he was here, he could forget or ignore the events of a year before and the more recent events of only a few days ago. As soon as he left, the memories would begin to assail him again.

_Not quite true,_ he admitted. FH had plenty of memories now, too. Like the time he had saved Squall from being thrown into the water and/or stabbed through the heart by the leader of an earlier invasion. The day all of this had started.

"You still alive down there?" Irvine asked, watching Seifer from his bunk. "You haven't blinked for quite a bit."

"Yaah, bite rocks," Seifer said.

"Come _on,_ ya know?" Raijin called. "I just gotta see the inside of that ship, ya know?"

"I'm coming," Seifer said, moving to the door and throwing it open. Raijin was standing there, quarterstaff held easily in one hand. Fujin had her shuriken strapped to her back, and was waiting for him with both arms crossed over her chest. "I just had to wait for those two sleepys to wake up," Seifer explained.

"Hey, I was up before you," Quistis said. "I _couldn't_ sleep, listening to you snore."

"I do not snore," Seifer said as Raijin began laughing. Nodding to Fujin, Seifer watched as Raijin yelped as Fujin's foot connected with his shin.

"QUIET," Fujin demanded.

"Well, now that everyone's awake, what are we going to do about Squall?" Seifer asked.

All traces of merriment drained from the room. Quistis had insisted that no one mourn until they were absolutely sure he was dead (the last time, it had been incredibly awkward when Squall had shown up, very much _alive),_ but the mention of his name left everyone a bit subdued.

_"...if he's not dead, he's just become our worst enemy..." _ Quistis had said it, after telling them about Squall's plan to do something with the mind-controlling armor. Neither option was desireable.

"We should get back to Balamb Garden," Quistis said. Seifer nodded. Seemed smart enough.

"All right," Irvine said. When do we leave?"

"As soon as possible," Seifer said.

"You mean I can't get back to sleep?" Irvine asked with a mock-disappointed air. "You're a cruel one, Seifer Almasy."

Seifer ignored him and walked out the door. The sea air hit him as soon as he stepped into the main hotel lobby, payed the lady sitting behind the desk, and left the building. Walking along the street towards Mayor Dobe's house and the location where the Ragnarok was parked, Seifer noticed the people out fishing. It was a beautiful day for it. Then again, unless there was a gale, every day was a beautiful day for it.

_But never for me,_ Seifer thought. _Maybe they're just mocking me. Damn fish, I _will _catch one one of these days! _

Seifer, in the year he had spent at Fisherman's Horizon, had never caught a fish. Raijin had quickly proved himself to be the equal of any of the master anglers, and when Raijin found a way to convince her to fish even Fujin had caught a fair amount. Seifer, though, had never gotten one.

There was a patter on the street behind him, and Seifer looked to see Quistis jogging to catch up with him. _Not going to let me out of your sight, instructor? _Seifer thought. _I don't blame you. I wouldn't let me out of my sight either._

Seifer turned into a shop, laying down a fair amount of gil for some rudimentary items. He had been practically showered with gil when he was the Sorceress's Knight, and he had never found time to use it all. When he had bought everything he thought he would need, he turned and moved back towards the huge, red-brown spaceship Ragnarok.

Stepping onto the bridge, he met with Nida's cool, disinterested stare. "So you're still tagging along?" he asked.

"I thought I might be needed," Seifer said.

"Riiiight," Nida said. "Well, have a seat. Zell should be up here in a sec."

"Zell?" Seifer asked. Of all the people in Squall's team, Zell was the one he got along with least. Quistis was still trying to figure out what he was up to, Squall was gone, Selphie, Irvine and Nida didn't know him that well, but Zell seemed to genuinely hate him.

"Yeah, he's due for piloting class," Nida said. "He'll be flying us back to Balamb Garden."

"My life is flashing before my eyes," Seifer said with a sneer. Nida nodded.

"I'll be here in case he tries to crash us. Just don't distract him, OK? I value my life as much as anyone else."

"Sure, give Chicken-wuss a break. Can do," Seifer said as the lift rose and Zell stepped off.

"Watch it, Seifer," Zell said. "I have one nerve left, and if it snaps someone's going to die."

"Ahem," Nida said, trying to talk before anyone forgot he existed. "Zell?"

"Yeah, yeah," Zell said, jumping into the pilots's seat. "So, first we start the engines,"

"Wrong," Nida said.

"Oh, yeah. Retracting stair ramp now."

There was a muffled thump as the ramp retracted, and Zell switched the engines on. Raising altitude with a caution that was entirely unlike Zell, he took them away from Fisherman's Horizon.

_Then _he adopted his more enthusiastic character.

"Oh _yeah!"_ he yelled, turning the ship. "We are _in the air!"_

"We are _doomed,"_ Nida muttered as Zell did a nose dive towards the surface of the water, pulling the ship up at the last possible moment.

"What? What's going on?" asked someone from the lift. Nida glanced around, saw President Laguna Loire of Esthar, and pointed at Zell.

"Student driver," he said.

"Oh," Laguna said, making his way to the front of the cockpit. "Balamb's not that way."

"I know how to fly this thing," Zell said. Let's see... this button here activates the map--"

_"NO!"_ Nida yelled, hitting the override on his console. That button opens the air room!"

"Oops," Zell said sheepishly. The air room was one of the three main makeshift bedrooms on the Ragnarok, (the other two being the hanger and the passenger seat/conference room). Opening the door would have the effect of having most of the furninshings, not to mention the occupants, swept out of the ship.

"_I_ could fly this thing better than Chicken-wuss there," Seifer said.

"Hey!" Zell said, almost turning to look at Seifer but deciding that flying the ship would be better. "It's my first day."

"Yeah, at least he hasn't rammed anything yet," Laguna said.

"The day is young," Seifer retorted.

"So which button turns on the map?" Zell asked. Nida sighed.

"It's the one that says 'automap,' Zell."

"It's--oh, I see it," Zell said. "Setting course for Balamb."

"Finally," Nida said, leaning back in the chair. _Once he's just flying there's not much he can screw up._

_...right?_

Seifer leaned back, enjoying the view of the clouds overhead. Nida was not about to let Zell over the cloud cover, he knew, but the flight was still unlike anything he had ever experienced before. The fact that Zell was flying was a bit concerning, but he trusted Nida well enough. He had been doing some background checks on the people of the team that he didn't know: i.e. Nida, Laguna, and Kiros. He guessed he knew them well enough.

Absently, he wondered if they had been doing background checks on him. If they had, none of them showed it. Out of curiosity, Seifer had looked up his SeeD bio once:  
**Seifer Almasy (SEED-41212-C)  
Third rank SeeD cadet  
Problematic  
Shows anti-social behavior/aversion to authority/inability to take orders/agressive  
Designated naturally gifted/first class gunblade specialist/second class para-magic abilities  
Test Grade Average 94**

That was about the point he'd switched it off. It had been about year ago, before the entire Ultimecia fiasco had started.

_At least I got away without anything worse than "problematic" and "agressive." I could have had Zell's "impulsive," or Nida's "inassertive." Oh, yeah, a lot better. But I guess none of that matters now. We're all in this, regardless of traits._

Seifer stared out the window sullenly. Somewhere out there, Dyne was still alive. He was sure of it. He hadn't died earlier. But Seifer vowed that he would.


	22. Leadership Pro Tempore

II_  
"What? The world isn't perfect, and I don't pretend it is."  
--Squall, remark_

_

* * *

_  
The Ragnarok set down in the Balamb/Alcauld Plains, just south of the Garden. Once inside, Quistis let Seifer go off on his own. If the new Faculty Squall had Xu hire couldn't keep him from misbehaving, Quistis knew she wouldn't be able to.

Seifer, unsure of what exactly to do, had headed for the training center. Expecting to run up against a few Grats, he was taken quite a bit by surprise when a Tri-face sprang over the wire at him. Spitting a curse Seifer parried a bite with his blade, kicking the thing just below its one real head. The two fake ones bit and snapped at him, forcing him back up against a wall as he slashed at it. The Tri-face wasn't very hard to kill, but the things were viscious.

Moving back into the commons area of the training facility, Seifer leaned against a wall. He was bored. He was just about to go roust Raijin out of the library for a quick duel, but the voice on the intercom stopped him.

_"Will the Centra sorcerer team please report to the main office, repeat, Centra sorcerer team report to the office."_

Guessing they might be doing something he would find interesting, Seifer sheathed his gunblade and moved for the elevator. He had to wait before it came down, and he guessed that the rest of the team had beaten him there.

Punching the 3F key, he was almost surprised when it actually took him there. The former headmaster, Cid, had made it so that only people he _wanted_ in the office could come in. Seifer guessed that Squall was a bit less strict, in that regard if none other.

The door slid open, and Seifer stepped into the room just as everyone was taking their seats. The faculty members had dragged in a number of overstuffed chairs that Cid had had scattered around the office, and had set them up in a circle on the side of the room. Quistis seemed a bit surprised to see Seifer, but motioned him to a chair anyway. Xu flipped the switch on something she was carrying, and nodded to Quistis.

"Cid's elevator lockout is still working," she said. "We shouldn't be disturbed."

"Good," Quistis said, looking around the room. Seifer took the chance to see who was there as well, noting each person: Irvine, Selphie, Zell, Kiros, Laguna, Nida, Xu, Quistis, Rinoa, Edea and himself. "I called you all hear to talk about our current situation," Quistris continued. "I think you'll all agree we have a problem."

"That would be an understatement," Nida muttered to himself.

"Err, indeed," Quistis said, surprising him. "Well, the first thing I think we should discuss is who will take over during Squall's absence."

_Still holding on to the hope he might be alive, _Seifer noted.

"I'll have duties here," Xu said, "so I can't."

Quistis turned to look at Laguna.

"Yeah, err.. I don't really have any experience with this sort of thing," Laguna said, scratching his head.

"You wouldn't want him if he did," Kiros said. Laguna actually blushed.

"I think you should, Quistis," Zell said. "Ifrit knows you advised Squall the most."

"Whether or not he listened is another thing," Quistis said.

Irvine nodded. "Still, you're the best suited for this."

Quistis shook her head, looking down at her hands. "None of you have read my bio, have you? 'prone to depression/no leadership capabilites?' "

"The faculy members who made those bios weren't the most trustworthy," Xu said. "I'll arrange for another assessment."

"Come on!" Selphie said. "Unless you want me to take over!"

_The Squad-A girl? In charge? Not if I have anything to say about it, _Seifer thought.

"What about Nida?" Quistis asked. Everyone turned to look at him.

"Me?" he asked. In most of his experience people had rarely even noticed him, much less turned to him for orders. "No way. I have _no_ training for this sort of thing. I'll just fly the ship, thanks."

"You were an instructor once," Zell pointed out to Quistis.

"I got fired."

"That's still one up on the rest of us."

Quistis looked around the circle. "Fine," she said. "But _only_ until we get Squall back."

"Fair enough," Irvine said.

"Sounds good," Laguna said.

Edea just nodded.

"All right, now that we have that cleared up..." Quistis looked around again. "What are we going to do?"

"We have to find Squall," Laguna said.

"We don't even know Squall is still alive," Seifer said, eliciting winces from about half the team. _What?_ he wondered. _It's the truth!_

"He's alive," Rinoa said. "Dyne wouldn't want him to die. He would want another pawn."

_Like how Ultimecia didn't have me executed? Probably._ "And how do you know Dyne is still alive?" he asked, watching her for a moment. She colored and glanced away.

"I just do," she evaded.

"All right, so how do we find him?" Irvine asked. No one answered.

"He'd be with his army," Xu said. "Since you took it out at the Centra crater, the only ones left would be on the ships."

"And the ships could be anywhere in any of the oceans on the globe," Seifer said. "So where would the most likely place be?"

"He can't have gotten too far from Centra--what am I saying? He's a _sorcerer._ He could be anywhere!" Nida sighed and began massaging his temples. Everyone seemed to ignore him.

"Heeeey, I know!" Selphie piped up. "He rerouted that draw point in the Shumi village, maybe they'd know where he was!"

"All right," Quistis said. "Laguna, they know you. You, umm... Kiros, and Rinoa will go try to figure out what happened to the draw point. Selphie, Zell, Irvine, maybe you should check out Trabia Garden, see if they've noticed anything going on up around there. On second thought Kiros, you should come with me to go to Esthar and talk to Doctor Odine. Seifer... uh... you go with... Laguna," Quistis said.

"Fine," Seifer said.

"I will accompany Rinoa," Edea said. "She may need my guidance."

_And your protection?_ Seifer wondered. _Don't worry, Matron. I'm not about to try anything._

"All right. Well, it's a bit late to start out now, why doesn't everyone just take a break and we'll start tomorrow?"

"As Squall would say, we're on standby," Irvine said, standing up.

"Zell," Nida asked. "If you don't mind, I'd like to take you up again?"

"Sure," Zell said. "When do I get weaponry practice?"

"Uhgh! Umm... later," Nida said, and made a beeline for the nearest exit.

The team began to file out of the room, and Quistis turned to one of the faculty members. Seifer waited until she turned around and notced him.

"Everyone seems pretty confident," he remarked. "You can't really believe it will be that easy."

"The last time we thought Squall was gone we got him back," Quistis said. "He's--"

"--our enemy," Seifer finished for her. "You don't seem to get that we might have to kill him."

Quistis blanched. "We won't have to," she said.

"You're just saying that. I bet you aren't convinced any more than I am."

"It's Dyne we're targeting. Not Squall."

"And you don't think Dyne will do everything he can to keep from getting himself killed? He'll sacrifice Squall before he lets us near him. To him, Squall may be an interesting toy, but he's counting on him being more valuble to us than he is to him."

"What would you suggest?" Quistis demanded. "When we went after Ultimecia, we didn't have to kill _you!"_

"Ultimecia was in the future. Technically, I didn't even _exist _when you fought her. As to what I'd do, I'd try to get Squall back, sure. But _not_ until we have a much better idea of who we're dealing with."

"And how do you suppose we should go about that?"

"Everyone's gotta have a past. We should start checking up on Dyne, see where he was born, if he has any friends... if we know his motives, we'd have a much better chance at this."

Quistis glared at him for a moment. _I guess she knows all my suggestions are valid,_ he thought smugly. _She can't say I'm wrong, but she doesn't want to admit I'm right._

"Fine. I'll have Xu start contacting people in the major cities and see if any of them have a birth record for a man named Dyne."

"Not Dyne."

"What?"

"I don't think it's his real name. He said he stole it."

"So what are we supposed to do?"

Seifer shrugged. "That's your problem, instructor. You're in charge. Make some decisions."

Quistis stood up. "Thank you for your _advice,"_ she said huffily, and left.

Seifer leaned back in the chair, staring at the ceiling. Balamb Garden! He was here, finally here again. He had never thought they would let him return--to be fair, he _did_ still get glances and threats in the hallway, and the Garden Square was abuzz with talk about him. But to actually be inside the Garden--it was a larger act of trust than he would have guessed possible.

_Or maybe not. Maybe it's charity. Poor old Seifer, he's lost everything... maybe we'll just let him tag along as long as he doesn't cause trouble._

Seifer slammed his hand down on the arm of the chair. _I am not some beggar! _he thought angrily. _I'm better than most of them, and I can prove it, too! All I need is a damned chance!_

A chance? They weren't likely to give him a chance. They didn't trust him enough. _Oh, yeah, I saved Squall's life--then I go and beat the hell out of him. And then I go drag Quistis over to him, then half the bloody crew sees me get in a fight with Zell. Typical Seifer, they're thinking. And they're sure as hell not going to give me a chance to _prove_ myself._

Standing up, Seifer moved towards the elevator. He could think of two things he needed: a good bloodbath in the training facility, and a meal from the cafeteria. He decided to go for the training center first, as the cafeteria would probably be crowded. The last place Seifer wanted to be was in a crowd.

Patting his gunblade, he stepped into the elevator. _All right, Tri-faces,_ he thought. _You want some of this? It's all yours..._


	23. Alone

III _  
"That's what... I have to face alone..."  
--Irvine Kinneas_

_

* * *

_"...cut power to the engines, and... there! We've set down."

"Thank god," Nida said, wiping imaginary sweat from his forehead.

"Shut up," Zell said. "I didn't do half bad."

"Just find Selphie and Irvine and get _off_ my bridge," Nida said. "Every time I think about that take-off my stomach flips over."

"It isn't my fault you had me park facing Balamb Garden!" Zell said.

"Just get off the ship so I won't be reminded," Nida said. "Geez. I know they wanted to repaint the ring, but that was not the way they wanted the paint scraped off."

"I didn't get anywhere near that close!" Zell stormed, then stopped when he saw Nida's grin. Turning, he stepped onto the lift.

Laguna, leaning on the copilot's seat behind Nida, turned to Seifer. "You really coming to the Shumi village?"

Seifer nodded. "Yeah. Why shouldn't I?"

Laguna shrugged. "All right, but no messin' around while you're there. They don't let visitors in very often, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just lead the way, and I'll follow suit." Seifer said. Taking a side glance at Laguna, Seifer wondered how he was going to get along with him in the time they would be at the village. Quistis and Kiros were going to Esthar and taking the Ragnarok with them, so they might be stuck in the Shumi village for a bit. Matron and Rinoa might be a bit awkward, but Laguna he had no idea about.

_Other than the fact that Dyne thought he would be good to use against Squall, _he thought. _Don't know why, though._

"In ten minute's we'll lift off," Nida said. "We'll drop you off by the Shumi village, and we'll be back around this way in three days. Make sure you have all your winter gear ready. I hope you made reservations at the hotel?"

"Done and done," Laguna said. "They're expecting us today. Ten minutes, then."

Seifer turned and moved back through the Ragnarok to the entrace, waving mockingly as Zell got off, shouldering a pack. The ramp began to retract, and the hum of the engines powering up filled the room. Sitting down on the floor, Seifer waited as Nida took off. An indeterminate amount of time passed, and the Ragnarok set down again. The ramp extended to reveil a snowfield almost exactly like the one they had left. Quistis, Edea, Rinoa and Laguna stepped into the entryway, and Seifer stood up to wait while they left. Quistis stood on the ramp and waved as he walked down, though she was obvioulsy not waving to _him_.

"Three days," she called.

"We'll see you," Rinoa called back. Laguna waved, rolling his sleeves down.

"Can we get going?" Seifer asked, ignoring Quistis. Laguna nodded.

"Yeah. Right this way."

They started walking, the Shumi Village little more than a brown smudge in the distance. Seifer took a moment to wonder why they couldn't have dropped them off a bit closer, but put it out of his mind. It was cold--that was the first thing he noticed. For the first time he actually understood why people called it "bitter cold"--the temperature translated into a physical pain almost like the flavor.

As they walked, Seifer wondered about Laguna. They had never had a chance to talk and, honestly, Seifer didn't know whether he would take it up if a chance did arise. There was something odd about him, about the way he'd overreact whenever Squall was mentioned. Not a lot, but subtly, as if there was someting going on between the two. That, added to Dyne's use of him against Squall, made him wonder even more. Of course, without actually getting into a long conversation with the man, Seifer had no way of seeing what he was up to. Still a bit confused, he put it out of his mind.

The only other thing that bothered him was Rinoa. He felt... awkward around her, to say the least. And why shouldn't he? What had he done to her? Captured her, and forced her to be junctioned to Adel. Two years ago, they had been friends. More than friends--for that one, breif summer Seifer had thought he was in love.

He should have realized it was hopeless from the start. And now he had destoryed any possible hope for a continuing relationship between them--even if it wasn't painfully obvious that Rinoa loved Squall, who would want to date their worst enemy? Anyway, Seifer didn't have time for love. It just didn't figure in his life anymore.

A sneer began to creep onto Seifer's face. It was a defence: Squall didn't let any emotion show, Seifer tried to make it seem like nothing mattered to him because it wasn't worth noticing, much less caring for.

Still, it didn't do much to reduce the pain. Just reduce the pity.

Snarling silently to himself, Seifer kicked a stone. It was imbedded in the ground further than he thought it had been, and as he stubbed his toe he let out a stream of muffled curses that got him a quizzical look from Edea, a surprised look from Laguna, and a very amused look frim Rinoa. Glaring the latter two into silence, Seifer stalked towards the Shumi village.

_Damn it all anyway,_ he thought. _What does it matter? Even if none of that had happened, would it have turned out differently? Some things just weren't made to be. I'm the misfit. Always have been. Thre was probably a reason Fujin and Raijin were my only friends. And they'd be better off without me too._ Resisting the urge to kick another rock, Seifer looked away from the rest of the group. The Winter Island snowfield stretched on for kilometers beside him--barren, desolate, empty, and cold. So empty.

_I don't care if I'm alone!_ Seifer thought irately. _I can handle it. Even if none of them want me around... even if I am the most hated person in Garden... I've made it on my own before. I can deal with it._

He kept repeating that, like a litany, inside his head. As if he could convince himself that it was the truth.


	24. Ghost Towns And Guardian Forces

IV_  
"And what are we doing? While our enemies are plotting, laying their traps, what are we doing?"  
--Vinzer Deling, remark during the Sorceress War_

* * *

The light streamed in through the open hatch, illuminating the pentagonal room. Dyne had furnished it well, with the customary black-and-silver prominently displayed. Obsidian cobras reared in each of the five corners, facing inwards to the silver-gilt serpent attatched to the floor. Black silk cushions were scattered about, and a pair of silver tables stood one to either side of the door. Outside the door Squall could see the burly guard there, though it was plain no guard was needed. The jacket he wore wouldn't permit him to do anything Dyne didn't like. 

Squall had been testing the limits the jacket set, and it was clear that he wouldn't be able to get away with anything with it. He could examine the jacket as much as he wanted, even to the point of figuring out the eleaborate hooks that kept it closed, but the moment he tried to take it off his muscles would freeze, not letting him do anything until he gave up. He could question the guard, (he found out that the guards had a different form of jacket, one that required them to follow all orders he or Dyne might give them but do nothing beyond that unless it was a direct mandate from the force controlling the jackets themselves--a force they refused to speak of) but as soon as he tried to order them to take off his or their jacket his throat closed and he couldn't talk.

In short, Dyne was playing a huge joke on him. He was letting him get maddeningly close to freedom--then laughing in his face.

So Squall only stood, staring out that hatch at the water and the three black ships that were visible. They were all the small, three-hulled ships that the guard had identified as skimmers--landing craft and scouts. He had not been allowed to explore the craft he was in, but had learned it was a one-of-a-kind submersible, almost a third as large as Balamb Garden and carrying almost a half of the remaining army. The guard had refered to it as the floating city, and Squall could tell why. Any ship comprable to a third of the Garden's size would be like a floating city--and probably incredibly powerful when it came to battle.

There was a noise from the door, and the jacket made Squall turn around. Dyne stepped in, motioning away the guard, and sat gracefully down on one of the cushions. "I hope you enjoy the view," he said. "We'll be reaching Fisherman's Horizon in about fourty minutes."

_Fisherman's Horizon?_ Squall thought, remembering the odd gravity-elemental coral reef there. _I would think he would have all the power he needed from the Crystal Pillar._

"Once we are there we will begin relocating the natives onto the skimmers you see alongside. We will be taking control of FH, and we don't need any prisoners to worry about." Dyne leaned back, weird blue-green eyes staring at Squall. So. Tell me what you're thinking." His tone clearly said it was an order, not a question, and the jacket interpreted it as one. Squall managed to avoid answering for several seconds before the jacket overpowered him.

"...why?"

Dyne laughed. "It should be obvious. That city is the most strategically placed in the globe. With it as one of our three main bases, we would be able to launch an attack on any country on the face of the planet."

"...three?"

"Yes." Dyne stood, moving sinuously over to Squall to stare him in the eyes. Squall thought he saw a flash of something there--maybe fear?--but wasn't quite sure. Dyne's voice lowered. "You are no doubt wondering why I am telling you this. The jacket you wear binds you to my service completely, _know that._ The fact that I have left your mind free could change any moment I feel you are a threat."

_...no doubt..._ Squall thought.

A hint of the old arrogance began to filter back into his voice. "Because I know you cannot turn against me, you will be taking control of Fisherman's Horizon once we clear the natives out. Though my partner and I will be residing here as well, we will be controlling the Islands Closest to Heaven and Hell, respectively."

_Partner_?

"You will meet my partner once we are done with the evacuation. Once this happens, we will begin setting up the FH defences and securing the Horizon Railroad. You will oversee the construction of new ships and secure the Horizon Bridge, while my partner and I concern ourselves with building up the ranks you decimated so easily."

Dyne turned to leave, then stopped. Whirling around, he struck Squall in the face. The jacket held him motionless as he fell to the floor, and Dyne put a foot on his chest and began shifting his weight onto it. Just before Squall's ribs cracked, Dyne stopped, staring at Squall with the strangest mix of fear, arrogance and anger Squall had ever seen.

"I control you, Squall Leonhart," he said, scorn dripping so heavily from his voice that Squall was mildly surprised there weren't puddles of it on the floor. "I could make you regret everything you have ever done to me. You will cooperate with me fully, because you have no other choice. You will not raise a single hand against me, because I will not let you. And if you persist in defying me, you will die very... very... slowly."

Dyne stepped back, turned, and exited.

"Heeeey!" Selphie waved at the small party coming from Trabia Garden, jumping up and down excitedly. "Jessieee!"

"Selphie?" came a voice, wafting over the still air. The other team broke into a run, and within moments they came to a stop beside Zell, Selphie and Irvine. The light-blue Trabia Cadet's uniforms blended in with the icy landscape better than Zell would have guessed.

"Selphie!" Jessie said, jumping into the air.

_God, there's two of them,_ Irvine thought with a smile.

"What are you doing here?" Jessie asked, patting her friend on the back.

"We just wanted to see if there's anything going on up here," Selphie said. "Like an army or something."

"An army? Up here?" Jessie laughed. "We don't even rate a SeeD academy. What makes you think there'd be an army?"

"Weirder things have happened," Irvine said. Then, pretending to remember his manners, he smiled in what he hoped was a charming manner. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Irvine Kinneas, a sharpshooter formerly of Galbadia Garden, and presently of Balamb Garden." Extending a hand, he smiled warmly when Jessie shook it.

"I'm Zell," Zell said, wiping off a glove and holding it out. Either Jessie didn't see him or was ignoring him, because she turned back to Selphie and started talking. Selphie managed to explain their situation in her typical manner: unconcerned, offhand. Zell exhaled loudly, turned away, and started shadow-boxing.

"Well, since you're here for three days, you should come back to Trabia Garden," Jessie said. "We've almost gotten it all fixed up--and mobile, too!"

"Ooh! Really?" Selphie jumped again. "Hurry up and show us!"

Jessie started off at a walk, talking with Selphie. Irvine pulled Zell along, not bothering to try and talk to the two other students on patrol.

Gradually Trabia Garden came into view, the beige walls with their elaborate blue design blending into the blue-grey peaks of the mountains in the background. "Welcome to the Trabia-Bika Snowfield," one of the cadets said. "There isn't much to see, but it's home."

Zell took a critical look at the Garden. Though nowhere near as impressive as Balamb Garden, and far less imposing than Galbadia Garden, it was nevertheless awing to see it: since the last time he had been there they had managed to get most of the visible parts completely fixed, and had even unearthed some of the underground parts. The broken ring was gone, and in its place was a fair amount of machinery that emitted a silver-blue, pulsing light like the one in the core of the Galbadian Mobile Research Facility.

"See?" Jessie asked. "We went through reams of blueprints we found, and figured out how to make the place fly! I wonder if all Gardens can?"

_Seems like,_ Zell thought. There were, after all, only the three.

"So does this mean we're stuck up here for three days?" Zell asked Irvine. Irvine shrugged.

"Probably." With a look at Jessie, he added "Can't say I'm complaining, though."

"Yggh," Zell said, making a face.

The cadets issued them through an entryway cut out of the metal wall, into the wide courtyards. A huge granite gargoyle stood in the center, amid a frozen pool of water. Beyond the courtyard the main building stood, with so much scaffolding it looked like a skeleton.

"We'll put you in the guest quarters," Jessie said. "Maybe later you can help out with the test flight!"

_Yay,_ Zell thought. "Well, we're here for three days. I guess we should help out if we can."

"Great!" Jessie said. "Let's get to work!"

"That's the last of them, sir--s?"

Dyne turned to Squall, ignoring the guard. "Shall we go ashore?" he asked, smiling. Turning back to someone behind him, he said "Send them to Galbadia. Start carting the artillery up, and order three-mile patrols along the bridge. Meanwhile, make sure no one sets foot on the dish. It shall hold the residences of my leiutenant here--" he patted Squall's shoulder, smiling even more widely as Squall tried to frown, "--Naja and I."

The guard paled. "Yes, sir," he said. "I'll make sure no one disturbs you."

Dyne turned to Squall. "I'm sure it won't be neccessary. Come along," he ordered. Squall followed sullenly. Stepping onto the metal deck of the city, Squall noticed that armored men were already dragging artillary out of the ships. Another group of men, armorless but not jacketless, were issuing orders to armored men on skimmers. Dyne moved off towards the solar dish, beckoning for Squall to follow.

As they reached the dish, Squall noticed that the mayor's house looked particularly ransacked. Dyne tsked and shook his head, drumming a hand against his thigh.

"Stupid soldiers. Can't do anything without collateral damage. They _can't _tell me that the old little mayor put up a fight."

"Even a _sssstupid_ dog would ressisssst you, Dyne," hissed a voice from somewhere. Squall whirled around to see a huge, black cobra sliding towards him, scaly hood extended. Dyne turned around, smiled, and extended both arms as the thing reared up to display the silver-gold markings on the inside of the hood, and the ember-red eyes glaring at him.

"Naja, meet my new Lieutenant, Squall Leonhart," Dyne said. "Squall, meet Naja, the forsaken GF. We have worked together for years now."

"You give yourssself more credit than you dessserve," Naja hissed. "Jusssst give me a chance, Dyne. You will find yourself dead the next day."

"That is... not likely," Dyne said darkly. "Well, Naja, I believe that you will be teaching Squall the ropes and the rules around here. I shall be off to see to other concerns."

With an elaborate bow, Dyne disappeared. Naja slid over to Squall, looking him over.

"Human child," Naja hissed. "You have no idea what you've gotten into, do you?"

_...not really..._

Naja stared at him, eyes biting deep into Squall's mind. "Lisssten, human child, and lissssten well. I will explain." The cobra drew back a bit, eyes unfocusing. "Yearssss ago," he began softly, "I lived well in what you called the Kashkabald Desert. A good life... interrupted most cruelly. Dyne found me, and, with the help of three other friendssss, _defeated_ me. Sssssince then, all three others have died off... all killed by Dyne himssself. He became my massster, and with my help wasss able to build--thisss!"

Naja reared up, hissing. Squall took a step back, but the jacket prevented him from leaving. "Stand still, human child," Naja said, hissing accent gone. Now, a mix of resignation and irritation flavored the GF's voice. "I'm not going to hurt you unless Dyne forces me to. Now, listen: the army here is under Dyne's command for one reason: the jackets they all wear force them to obey him. And, since Dyne cannot possibly concentrate enough to control an army of that magnitude, I control the jackets. So, you see? The jackets control the men, I control the jackets, and Dyne controls me."

_...efficient,_ Squall thought. _This is not good._

Naja laughed, a dry, hissing sound. Squall had the unpleasant feeling that the GF was listening in on his thoughts. "You think correctly, human child," Naja said, confirming his suspicions. "It is no secret that I loath my master. The troops know it, Dyne knows it, and is scared of it. Thus he tightens his control over me--and reassures himself. For a time, I am unable even to _think_ without his permission, then he relaxes and I... am almost free. Almost. After a few days he becomes scared again." A hissing laugh emanated from the thing's mouth. "Damnfool human. You could sssset your watch by him. Thussss, I will make a deal with you: if ever there is a chance, I shall do my best to loosen the control of your jacket. At that time, you will either kill me--or him. Underssssstand?"

"You want me to kill you?" Squall asked, surprised. Naja thrust his huge head into Squall's, almost knocking him over.

"This is no life," he murmured. "If you were as I am now... you would ask the same thing."

_I doubt it,_ Squall thought. _As long as you're alive, you can still fight--_

A heavy blow to his ribs knocked him to the ground, and Squall looked up to see Naja's tail raising again. "Fool human!" the snake spat. "As long as you wear that jacket, you will cooperate with Dyne fully! _Fully!_ You will not resist, because if you do, the day that Dyne ever turns his back on you or me will never come! Yessss..." the hiss began to creep into his voice again. "You will cooperate, and Dyne will not sssuspect. When he trusssts you, I shall loossssen my control asssss well asssss I am able. Yessss... you will kill him." The baleful eyes regarded him for a bit more, then the huge GF turned and slithered away silently.

Standing, Squall turned to see Dyne coming down the ramp, talking intensely with someone else. The second man nodded and moved off as Dyne stepped down in front of Squall, smiling.

"So, are you ready to take charge of the boat-building?" he asked.

Squall nodded, wondering if Dyne was really overconfident enough not to suspect.

"Good!" Dyne smiled even wider. "I can see that the little chat with Naja has taught you resistance is useless. Nevertheless, you _were_ one of my more stubborn ones. The last Lieutenant I had folded as soon as we got the jacket on him."

Dyne laughed, turning to the mayor's house. _He's overconfident,_ Squall noted. _Trusts his control over Naja so much that he can't see a way his pet could turn against him. That is either very good or very bad._

There were two possibilities Squall could see: that Dyne was too confident and would make a fatal mistake sometime--or that he wasn't overconfident, and the trust he showed was founded. As far as Squall knew, he wouldn't be able to lift a finger against Dyne even if Naja _did_ help.

_No worrying about that now, _Squall thought sternly at himself. _For now, see what you can learn about him, and about this operation. We'll have enough problems soon enough._

Laguna sprinted down the walkway towards the low, geodesic dome that stood framed by the Trabia bluffs and the white snow. The pathway was kept clean and iceless by the long tubes on either side, which misted some sort of advanced antifreeze onto the walkway at regular intervals.

The huge doors slid open and Laguna stepped in, rubbing his hands together. "Whew!" he said, looking around. "Colder than I remembered."

Seifer, Edea and Rinoa stepped in after him, looking around. "Aren't there supposed to be... people here?" Rinoa asked, noting how empty the room was.

"They're probably all just down in the village," Laguna said confidantly. "Let's get on the elevator."

"Okay," Rinoa agreed.

Stepping into the big, six-seated elevator, Laguna grinned as the recorded message chimed in: _/Please have a seat./_ "Just like I remember," he said.

The door closed as everyone sat down, and the window in the back of the elevator showed that they were moving. Gradually the lights changed shape and color, and the elevator stopped. _/Please exit through the door/_ the synthesized voice said.

Where else would we exit through, the ceiling? Or maybe the window?Seifer wondered. The door slid open, and Laguna ran through enthusiastically. "Huh, that's odd," he said as he stepped into the regulated air of the Shumi mining village. "There's no one here to meet us...?"

"Maybe they're in the hotel?" Rinoa asked. Laguna scratched his head.

"Must be," he said. Moving over, the door slid open automatically. Laguna walked over to the desk and peered over, expecting to see the short little Shumi hotel manager. There was no one there. "Hello?" he called, walking to the back room. No one.

"Perhaps they're in another part of town?" Edea suggested.

"This isn't right, man," Laguna said, looking worried. "There should be someone here." Turning to Rinoa, he shrugged. "You know this place too, right? Why don't you check the workshop, while I check out the Elder's house?"

"Okay," Rinoa said. Seifer, without waiting for instructions, followed Rinoa.

Walking past the oddly designed buildings, Seifer couldn't tell what was so wrong. For the first time he had been into a Shumi village, it looked fine to him. Maybe the occupants were just sleeping, or hibernating, or doing some weird alien thing.

Rinoa moved through the city quickly, arriving at Sculptor's workshop before Laguna had gone to the Elder's house. Throwing open the door, Rinoa stepped inside.

"There's no one in here either," she said with a hint of worry flavoring her tone. "I wonder what's happened?"

Seifer stepped in and looked around, looking for signs of a struggle or an invasion. There weren't any.

"Looks like they just packed up and left," he said.

"But why would they do that if they were expecting us?" Rinoa countered. "Maybe they were all captured...?"

"Doesn't look like it," Seifer said. "There would be more stuff just left... undone. The city wouldn't be as neat. It wouldn't look like they knew they had to leave."

Rinoa walked to one of the tables, looking at the carefully stacked tools and rocks. "I guess you're right," she said. "But..."

"Let's find Laguna," Seifer said. "Maybe he'll know something.

Laguna met them on their way to the elder's house, shaking his head. "This isn't right, man," he said. "I can't find anyone."

_Don't tell me this is some kind of freakish ghost city,_ Seifer thought. "Where could they all have gone?" Edea asked.

"Winter Island doesn't have that much on it," Laguna said. "It's either this or the Chocobo Forest."

"Sure, the entire population of the village went to catch chocobos," Seifer said scornfully.

"No, really, guys," Laguna started. "This isn't right."

"I think we can tell," Seifer retorted. "What do you want to do about it?"

"We should meet up with Zell at Trabia Garden," Rinoa suggested. "We could get there by Chocobo."

"Sounds good," Laguna said, scratching his head. "Let's go, then."


	25. Mind Games

V  
_"There is absolute fealty and absolute folly. The world is mine. Accept. Give in."  
--Adel_

* * *

"Welcome to Chocobo Forest," the odd little boy said, running a finger along a chocobo track on the ground. "You'll scare the chocobos away if you all come in." 

Seifer turned to everyone else and shrugged, stepping towards the boy. Laguna, Edea and Rinoa nodded and stepped outside the forest to wait.

"We need chocobos," Seifer said. "How do we get them?"

The boy stood up. "First of all, I'm Chocoboy. Howd'ya do. Let's see... if you want to catch a chocobo, you'll need two whistles, the ChocoSonar and the ChocoZi--"

"Can I get one without going through all that?" Seifer asked.

"Sure, if you want me to catch them for you. It'll cost you, though."

"Good. I'll take four."

"Four?"

"Yeah, four," Seifer repeated. "That a problem?"

"Not really," Chocoboy said. "Ookay... let's see."

Stetching out both hands, Chocoboy started a low warble that sounded like "Here, choco choco choco... _heeeeeeere_ choco choco choco... _I SAID COME HERE CHOCOBO! _ Pleeeeeeeease?" Jumping up and begining what looked like some sort of odd, crazed dance, he began calling the chocobos again. Within no time four of the huge, yellow birds had appeared.

"Heh, heh, heh! How's that for you?" he asked. "That'll be four thousand eight hundred gil, please. Nah, since I'm so nice, I'll only charge you for three... three thousand six hundred, please."

Seifer dug out the gil, handing it to the boy, who grinnied.

"Thanks. Oh, and just as a special present, I'd like to give you a chicobo. It's my special way of saying thanks."

"A what...?"

"A chicobo. You know, a baby chocobo?"

Seifer shook his head. "What am I supposed to do with a small chocobo?"

"I dunno," Chocoboy said. "That's your problem."

"No, thanks," Seifer said. "I don't need any sma--"

"Come on!" Chocoboy insisted. "Name him!"

"I _don't want_ a small choco--"

"_Name_ him!"

_I am going to kill this kid,_ Sifer decided. _As soon as I get out of this place, I am going to mail him a grenade or something._ "What the hell am I supposed to name him?" he asked.

"You're asking me? Then I'll name him Boko. And thanks for the business!"

The boy sat down again, inspecting the chocobo track. Seifer stared at the chicken-sized bird that was suddenly butting up against his pant leg, and moved over to the chocobos. For some odd reason, they were already saddled. Climbing up onto one's back with a bit of difficulty, he grabbed the reins and steered it out of the forest. Boko followed along automatically.

"Four chocobos and one... chicobo," Seifer said. "I vote we roast the little one and eat him."

"He's cute!" Rinoa said, bending down to pet Boko. "I wonder what Squall will say when he sees him?"

_Damn over-optimistic... I think I understand a bit of what Squall's had to deal with. _ Seifer grimaced at the thought of spending much more time with Squall's "team." Their sad conviction that everything was completely fine was wearing on his nerves, let alone his sanity. "Can we just go, please?" he asked, a bit impatient.

Rinoa swung up into the saddle of one of the birds, offering Edea a hand up on the third one as Laguna clambered into the fourth. "I haven't ridden chocobos since I was little," she said. "Let's go!"

The Ragnarok set down in the Esthar Airstation, the main commercial airpath in the city. The Airstation was abandoned at the moment for an "indefinite amount of time," probably until another country became advanced enough to have an airstation of their own.

Following Kiros along the odd, translucent streets, Quistis and Nida wondered what (if anything) Odine would have to contribute to their search for answers. Of course, that was assuming they could get any sense out of Odine at all.

Sitting down on the lift to Odine's workshop, Quistis was reminded of the time she had come into Odine's lab for a much different reason: the mission breifing for the Lunatic Pandora scheme. It hadn't worked out very well.

_Come to think of it, none of our missions end up very well. Like the one at Timber that Selphie told me all about. And the one at Galbadia--did one single thing go right there? And then the Esthar mission... well, we did kill Ultimecia, but..._

"Umm, we're here," Nida said, shaking her shoulder. "You awake?"

"Yes," Quistis said, blinking. "Sorry."

"No prob," Nida said, with one of his odd, half-amused looks on his face. Quistis wondered how long he had been trying to get her attention this time. Stepping off of the lift, Quistis headed for the door.

Odine was in his workshop as usual, huge red-and-white clown ruff bobbing as the little man scurried about. His scribe was scribbling notes on a clipboard, trying to do this and listen as Odine babbled about something at the same time. Moving over to the large window, he peered inside and began snapping more stuff at the scribe.

"Uhm, Doctor Odine, sir?" Nida asked timidly. Kiros walked in, grabbed Odine by the shoulder, and spun him around.

"Vat?" Odine demanded. "Vat do you vant?"

"You have visitors," Kiors said. Peering around Kiros, Odine jumped up, clapping his hands together.

"Good! Excellent! Vonderful! It iz them. Well? Vat do you have for Odine this time?"

"Questions," Quistis said. "About the Crystal Pillar, among other things--"

"Ze Crystal Pillar! Yes, I have seen ze Crystal Pillar. Scribe! Call up ze pictures!"

"Yes, Doctor Odine," the scribe said, turning towards the control panel. A three-dimensional hologram sprung up in the center of the room. It showed a single, black spire raising out of some sort of desert/wasteland.

"You see here," Odine said, "ze Crystal Pillar has acted as ze catalyst for the energy pulled out of ze Demi draw point. All of ze energy has crystallized! Do you know what happens when energy crystallizes?"

Quistis shook her head.

"Of course you don't. No one does except me, Odine! See, the Crystal Pillar was created on ze moon, and it calls monsters from ze moon, but only when it is over certain spots, and when it is full of energy. Tears Point iz ze one we found first, but Centra vas destroyed by a Lunar Cry. And both were done with only the Crystal Pillar charged, but now ze pillar is much bigger and with more energy!"

"So Dyne wants to create another Lunar Cry?" Nida asked, paling.

"Of course not!" Odine stamped his foot. "See, there is great power needed to _create_ ze Lunar Cry. But zis power could be used for something else entirely!"

"What?"

Odie turned away and started mumbling. Quistis looked at Kiros, who shrugged. "_Doctor,"_ he said. "What is it?"

Odine turned around. "Odine does not know. There iz nothing on record that vould tell me."

"What?" Nida asked. "So we came all the way out here to figure out that Dyne has a lot of power? We knew that already!"

"You vant to go outside?" Odine asked angrily. "Hmm? Vell?"

Nida turned away. "Maybe we should get back to the Ragnarok," he said. "We have two days, we could go investigating ourselves."

"Sure, why not?" Kiros asked. "And then we'll come back here and check in again."

Quistis sighed. "Be sure to notify us if--"

"You are going to ze Crystal Pillar?" Odine demanded. "Then I am coming as vell!"

"What?" Nida asked, looking at Quistis.

"Uh... all right," Quistis said. "Sure. See if you can make any sense out of this."

"Do I get a choice in this at all?" Nida asked, glancing at the odd little scientist. Either no one heard him or everyone ignored him, a feeling Nida was well aquainted with. Sighing, he headed back to the ship.

The jacketed men worked effeciently, far too efficiently for Squall's tases. The boats they constructed were made in a most unusual fashion: large quantities of coral were dragged up and treated with repeated Demi spells until the desired mass was attained, then they were thrown into an Ultima draw point that seemed to have popped up from nowhere until they became oddly soft and pliable. They were shaped like clay into long, narrow hulls for skimmers, and a larger hull was being constructed offshore with eight of the small three-hulled ships forming a sort of mobile shipyard.

Three skimmers were supporting divers with some sort of treated sabre who went to get the coral, and as the hulls of the skimmers filled with coral they brought them back to the armored man who was operating the pulley system of raising the coral to the deck. A pile of small peices was being built up and depleted as the workers ran out of Demi spells and needed to refine more. Squall had pocketed a few of the peices, just in case he would need them. He had also thought about stealing a few Ultima spells, but decided against it as Dyne might suspect.

Glancing across the ocean, Squall could see the faint outlines of the skimmer fleet Dyne had sent out to gather magical supplies, and the two larger building-ships going to the Islands Closest to Hell and Heaven.

"Marvelous, isn't it?" Dyne asked, coming up behind Squall. "Through the jackets, Naja makes them so efficient. I was able to raise this army in under a year with his help.

_...great,_ Squall thought. "And the buildings?"

Dyne smiled. "You seem curious enough today. Don't tell me you don't know about the Centra Shelters?"

Squall shook his head.

"Your own Garden is one. Long ago, when the Centra civilization was destroyed by the Lunar Cry, a few escaped in what we now know as mobile Centra Shelters. There are still a few found around, and all the Gardens are ones. We managed to find two of them, and we can use them as mobile bases. Now they're being sent with two skimmers each to establish bases on the Islands Closest to Hell and Heaven. Once that's done, you'll be taking over here in preparation for a three-pronged attack on Esthar."

_Esthar? _"Esthar?" _Isn't that a bit ambitious? Is the army really that powerful?_

"You, Naja and I will be remaining here, of course, but we will oversee the invasion. The force based here will enter first, through the duckblind crossing the water on the Abadon Plains inlet. We'll take the submersible underneath and then destroy the duckblind from the vulnerable inner side. Naja will direct his forces from the Island Closest to Heaven through the Millefeuille Archipelago, breeching the duckblind north of the Lunar Gate as soon as your troops engage the Estharan Army. With their forces divided thus, the Estharans will have very few people availible when my troops come through the Nortes Mountain duckblind north of the city."

Squall nodded slowly. _This cannot be good,_ he thought. "Esthar has one of the largest militaries in the world--" he started.

"Pah! We have enough men for this. We will gain more with each prisoner we take. Regardless of how skilled a fighter they were, once they don the jacket each fighter has Naja's own skill. It will work."

_Duly noted. Now the question is, can I possibly stop this?_

"When will the invasion begin," Squall asked, voice carefully neutral.

Dyne looked at the sky. "Ten days, as soon as we receive word from the Island bases. As soon as we defeat Esthar and subjugate the population, we'll set our sights on Galbadia."

_With the entire population of Esthar as shock troops. Galbadia wouldn't stand a chance. _ "Why?" he asked.

Dyne smiled. "Admit it, Leonhart. You don't really want to be cooperating with me. You're doing this because you have no choice."

Squall took a step back. "What?" _Does he know...?_

Dyne sighed, and a flash of something that looked almost like fear shone in his eyes for a split second. It was gone so fast, however, that Squall couldn't be sure he saw it. _But-_- it hadn't exactly been the first time--there was something odd going on. Half the time Dyne actually seemed to be afraid of him...

"It would be much better if you cooperated with me out of choice instead of coersion," Dyne said. "What can I offer you to make you want to?"

_Nothing,_ Squall thought.

Dyne turned to him, a sly smile gracing his face. "What about the girl, Rinoa? I have some very persuasive people in my employ, I could convince her to join us easily.

"Rinoa--" _No... he can't take Rinoa. She wouldn't let him._

_Like I didn't let myself?_

"If I could convince her to obey me without the suit, would you cooperate? I could buy her allegiance, perhaps with promises for or threats against Timber?"

_No. If you did, I could never do this. She'd be the enemy of... of everything I have ever... I'd... I don't know what I'd do..._

"No," he said. "Not Rinoa."

Dyne laughed. "You don't remember?" Taking a step forward, Dyne placed a gloved hand under Squall's chin. " 'Rinoa... even if you become the world's enemy, I'll... I'll be your knight.' Sound familiar?"

It did. Too familiar. Squall had thought it in Edea's house, during the private converstion he and Rinoa had had. It was after Riona had been worrying about SeeD coming to kill her if she became posessed.

_Why did I even think that?_ he wondered. _Does Dyne know everything I've ever thought? No, dammit, no! I can't let him manipulate me like this!_

Stepping back away from Dyne, he turned towards the boatbuilders. "You once said you didn't believe in evil," Dyne continued mercilessly. "That it was just different standpoints. If you believe this, then you must believe everyone's views are valid. What then is so unappealing about mine?"

_Because you force it on others,_ Squall thought. _Because... because..._

"Look around. Most of these people were criminals. Crooks. Lowlifes with a slim chance of surviving their next year, let alone leading any sort of rewarding life. Now look at them: they have a mission, a purpose, a sense of self-worth. For the first time, they are working for something other than the next scrap of bread, the next innocent victim. You can't tell me this is a bad thing, can you?"

_Stop it. You can't mess with my head. I know what my values are._

_Don't I?_

"Look at the history of the world. People like your Ellone have been exploited for generations. You saw it, when she was used as some sort of tool to compress time. If we unite all the countries under one rule, there will be no one to fight. No more wars. And when there is only one sorceress or sorcerer in the world, there can be no power struggles. Don't you think this is a noble purpose?"

_No. It doesn't work like that. Elone agreed to use her powers, so we could defeat Ultimecia. Ultimecia! That's it. His plan can't work, because we know that sometime in the future Ultimecia will be born, and this entire bloody war will start again anyway--_

"Wrong," Dyne said, reveiling that he had been listening in to Squall's thoughts. "You never believed in fate, Leonhart. Do you now? Do you think that the future can't be changed? It hasn't happened yet. _Nothing _is written in stone."

_Stop..._

Dyne laughed and turned away. "Think about what I've said, Leonhart. Think very... _very..._ hard." Still laughing, he left.


	26. Freedom's End

VI_  
"You are mine."  
"Your dreams are my dreams, your will is my will, your greatest ambition my glory and my aim. Your arms will bear my standard and your voice will sing my praises. You are my knight, my champion, my herald.__You live for me, and in like fashion may you die. __"  
"You are mine!__"  
--Ulimecia_

* * *

"Finally, the beach," Seifer muttered as the shores of Trabia came into view. "If I have to stay on this thing for much longer, there's going to be chocobo for dinner." 

Wings open, the chocobo powered its way through the water. Seifer didn't know how the chocobos stayed floating, but he guessed it had something to do with the feathers. They didn't always stay too far above the waterline, though: Seifer was developing cramps in his legs from having to hold them above the water for so long. Even so, the icy spray the birds churned up was beginning to numb both hands and feet, and he felt like his ears were about to fall off at any moment.

"Man, I am never going to look at one of these things again once we get to the Garden," Laguna complained. "I want to go to southern Esthar, where it never snows... I want a nice, hot meal--"

"Stow it," Seifer snapped irritably. "I have had it up to here with your complaining." The angry gesture Seifer made was somewhat hampered by the fact that he couldn't seem to unclench his hands from the reins.

"M-m-m-mountains up ahead," Rinoa said through chattering teeth. "Which w-w-w-way?"

"Umm, east. Right. East is to our right."

"Great. East." Seifer spurred his chocobo into a fast run, heading for the forest east of the mountains. "Skirting the mountains, we should be able to get there in, oh... _never_."

"We'll g-g-g-get th-th-there," Rinoa managed to say. "I should've b-b-brought a heavier c-c-c-coat."

The four chocobos plunged into the forest, where the foliage trapped some of the heat and made it a few degrees warmer. Still below freezing, but warmer than it _had_ been.

"These things can dodge trees, right?" Laguna asked as Seifer tried to get his mount to go faster.

"They were born in a forest, dolt!" Seifer yelled back.

"Oh, yeah..."

"I would love nothing more than to ride through a Firaga spell right now," Edea remarked. "But I fear the chocobos would not survive it."

"And we don't want to walk," Laguna said with a shudder. "How long will it take us to get through the forest?"

"Forever and a day," Seifer snapped. Rinoa began to giggle. "What? Seifer damanded. "What's so funny?"

"Ooh... you're just l-l-l-l-like Squall," Rinoa said. "Exc-c-c-cept he doesn't say any of that stuff, he j-j-j-just thinks it."

"Thaaaaanks," Seifer said, voice laden with sarcasm. _Sure. Me like Squall. Riiiiight. Not a chance in hell._

The yellow birds ran through the forest easily, threading their way between the trees. Seifer glanced back to see the tiny yellow chicobo following them, and wondered just how much stamina the thing posessed.

A loud humming filled the air, and Seifer pulled his chocobo to a halt. "Does anyone else--"

The tree needles were blown away above them as a blast of warm air pounded down on them. Looking up, Seifer could make out a vague blue-grey mass above them. "Does that--" he tried, but his voice was blown away. Taking a deep breath, he yelled "_Does that thing look familiar to anyone else?"_

"_Th-th-that's Trabia g-g-Garden, I think--"_ Rinoa yelled back.

"_What the... follow it!"_ Seifer snapped. Pulling his chocobo around, he sent the bird running after the Garden. Laguna, Rinoa and Edea followed, and Boko actually ran ahead. The Garden took a sharp turn just as they came out of the forest, and Seifer saw why: they were heading directly into a roiling mass of black-armored soldiers.

"Whoa!" Zell looked at the bridge diagram display. It was poor-quality, but fairly clear. A tiny, circular window provided a better view, but Seplie was busy staring out of it. "We just cleared the forest," Zell said. "Geez! What the hell are they doing here?"

"Looks like the army is here after all," Irvine said. Gently pushing Selphie away from the window, he shrugged. "There are... twenty-five of them, maybe. And they're spreading out. I don't think they were coming for the Garden."

"The Student Committee didn't train us to deal with this," Jessie said, looking at Selphie with concern. "What'll we do?"

"Do you have any big guns around here?" Selphie asked, an odd gleam in her eyes.

"Selphie, you little pyro--of course we don't!"

"Oh," Selphie said, a bit disappointed.

"Hey..." Irvine said, pressing his face as close to the glass as he could. "Is that--"

"Four dots coming out of the forest," Zell said, looking at the console. "What is it?"

"Something yellow," Irvine said. "Four chocobos. It looks like our friends. And--otherwise."

"Haven't killed Seifer yet, hmm?" Zell asked.

"They're--they're heading right at the troops!" Irvine said.

"What?" asked Selphie.

"_What!"_ snapped Zell.

"We can't get off," Jessie said, looking at the four blips on the screen rapidly approaching the other mass of blips. "Not before the troops reach them!"

"What are we going to do, Zell?" Selphie asked as the blips that represented the troops began moving faster, and three of the four blips that were their friends halted, and began moving back along the edge of the forest.

"I don't know," Zell said. "How am I supposed to know!"

"Hurry, Zell," Irvine said. "Do something!"

"Uhhh..." _I'm no good at this... what would Squall have done?_

"Zell!"

"I'm thinking! I'm thinking! Uh... let's... uhm..."

"Oh, man! They're almost there," Irvine said.

"...land! On the troops!" As soon as the words left his mouth, Zell realized how incredibly stupid the plan was. Still, he couldn't come up with anything else.

"What?" Jessie asked.

"All right!" Selpie exclaimed, jumping over to the console. "Let's do it!"

Laguna grabbed the reins and tugged sideways, jerking the chocobo's neck around so hard he was surprised it didn't break. This had the immediate effect of ramming the bird into Rinoa's mount, tossing them both to the ground as the frightened creatures' talons impacted the ground around them. Something whizzed through the air next to them, and one of the chocobos fell with a javelin buried in its chest.

Laguna managed to grab the reins of the unhurt one, and pulled himself up. Rinoa gasped as the dead chocobo's huge claw raked her across the face, and tried to get out of the way of the pounding feet as a javelin ripped through her coat sleeve. There was a flash of yellow, and she found herself being swung through the air to land on the back of a chocobo behind Seifer.

_"Back along the forest,"_ Seifer yelled. _"Maybe the Trabians'll see us!"_

Rinoa grabbed onto his trenchcoat as he pulled his chocobo around quickly, holding on as well as she could. Gunfire exploded behind them, and Seifer ran his mount right over a grenade just seconds before it exploded.

_"Something's happening,"_ Laguna yelled, looking over his shoulder. Rinoa risked a glance back to see Trabia Garden descending, engines roaring.

_"Out from underneath!"_ Seifer called back, spurring his chocobo and hoping the thing didn't just collapse from exaustion. The wind from the engines was actually pushing them downwards, and the chocobo couldn't move as fast anyway with its double load.

_A Haste spell, my_ kingdom _for a Haste spell..._ Seifer thought. _Hurry _up, _you yellow bag of bones..._

The trailing edge of the Garden passed overhead, close enough that Seifer could have reached up and touched it. Then it was past--driving into the black troops.

"Yeah!" Laguna thrust a fist into the air and reined in his chocobo. "Got'cha!"

Seifer let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding, pulling the chocobo to a halt. The bird immediately keeled over, gasping for air. Seifer jumped free, pulling Rinoa with him.

"Th-th-th-that wasn't f-f-fun," Rinoa said. "I want to g-g-get out-t-t-t of here."

"Right," Seifer said. Looking around the edge of the forest, he spotted a tree a long distance from the rest. Rummaging in his pack he found a Flare stone, he activated it and threw it at the tree. In a spectacular burst of light it set on fire, and Seifer moved over to it stiffly.

Rinoa, shuddering from more than the cold, staggered up next to it. "Why are they here, t-too? Are th-th-they everywhere?" she asked, looking at Seifer. Seifer shrugged.

"The hell should I know? I don't know what's going on."

"Heeeeey..." came a voice from the direction of the Garden. "Guys!"

_The Squad-A girl is back, _Seifer noted. Pulling off his gloves, he held his hands out to the flaming tree. Something small and fluffy crawled into his trenchcoat, and Seifer looked to see Boko nestling against his ribs. With a muffled curse, he pulled away from the chicobo. Boko only followed, trying to stay under the coat.

Selphie came into his view, moving up close to the fire. "Heeeeey!" she said. "Weren't you guys supposed to be with the Shumis?"

"The Shumis had other plans," Seifer growled. "They decided not to show up."

"Ooooh," Selphie said. "What's under your coat, Seifer?"

That gave him an idea. Grabbing Boko by the legs and ignoring the "Wark, wark!"s of protest, he thrust the chicobo at Selphie. "He's yours," he said. "Kill him or keep him, just keep him away from _me!"_

"Ooooh! He's so _cute!"_ Selphie exclaimed, clutching the little bundle of feathers to her cheek. "What's his name?"

"Boko," Seifer said darkly. "And if you _don't_ keep him away from me, I will _not_ guarentee that he'll live to see another day."

"You're so nice," Selphie said, ignoring his last remark and petting Boko. Then, with a spontenaity that shouldn't have surprised Seifer but did, she threw her arms around him quickly. Seifer jumped and pushed her away, giving her a murderous glare. Selphie, absorbed in playing with Boko, didn't notice.

"Geez," Zell said from somewhere behind him. "Why did all of you naturally assume I was the leader. Huh?"

" 'cause you're just so smart, Zell," Selphie said.

"I can't wait until Squall gets back," Zell said. "Then I won't have to do this anymore."

"I'll take over if you can't handle it," Seifer said.

_"What!"_ Zell yelled. "Oh, no! _No,_ no! _You_ are not taking command of anything, got it?"

_Only too well,_ Seifer thought. "Can we get out of here?" he asked, motioning to the Garden. "This is getting us nowhere."

"All right," Zell said. "But no making trouble! We have all of Trabia Garden watching you!"

"Don't worry about me, Zell," Seifer said, pulling his gloves back on. "We have bigger things to worry about now."

"S-sire?"

Squall looked at the man calling him, a jacketed person who looked almost half again as tall as he was. "Yes?" Squall asked, unsure of what he could possibly want.

"I think you might want to see Dyne," the man said nervously. He looked scared.

_This can not be good,_ Squall thought, then mentally kicked himself. _What am I thinking? This entire affair isn't good. This hasn't been good since the time I woke up with this damn jacket on.  
_  
Moving past the man towards the dish, Squall could actually hear faint sounds of yelling. The bad feeling that had started in the pit of his stomach increased.

"What do you mean, all of them are gone?" Dyne yelled at someone. "There was no one there to stop them!"

"Sire..." came a faltering voice. "I do not know--"

"You don't _know?_ You--"

"Sire..." the man tried, looking beseechingly at Squall. Dyne turned to see him, eyes wide with disbelief and rage.

"We sent twenty-nine of our soldiers to Trabia to gather supplies in preparation for the Esthar invasion, and he says they're gone. _GONE!"_

"Sssshould have sssent more, Dyne," hissed something from behind the sorcerer. The jacketed man turned pale and ran, leaving Squall, Dyne and Naja alone.

"What happened to them?" Dyne roared at the GF. "Why didn't you save them?"

"It would be hard to ssssave sssomeone from a Garden landing on them," Naja said. "And you have jussst alerted Trabia to our pressssence. I ssssalute you."

"I could rend your soul for this!" Dyne raged at the GF. "If you did not control the suits, your conciousness would be gone by now! I could destroy you!"

"Empty threatssss," Naja hissed. "You cannot--cannot--ssssss!" The huge serpent convulsed, eyes opening wide. Dyne, back fully turned on Squall, had is hand stretched out towards Naja. The serpent convulsed again, hissing in pain.

"You _failed_ me!" Dyne roared. "For this--"

"Ssssss... ssss... ss_Squall,_" Naja hissed, turning agonized eyes on him. Squall found his hand moving towards his gunblade almost of its own accord, and understood.

"I will--" Dyne began, then paused. His eyes narrowed for the briefest of instants, as if something had just occured to him. Whirling just as Squall raised his gunblade, he backed into Naja's coils. Drawing the huge sword he wore, he knocked Squall's blade away forcefully.

Squall ducked under a frantic lunge, swinging the gunblade up. Naja began to rise, hood extended as Dyne parried and swung again. The GF rose into a pillar of scaled muscle, towering over Dyne. Then he stopped.

Dyne brought his blade crashing down on Squall's, forcing him backwards. Another skilless, desperate attack knocked Squall to the ground, where he barely managed to deflect a stab with his blade. Dyne's sword buried itself several centimeters in the ground, and Dyne cursed and tried to yank it out as Squall got up. Bracing himself, Squall swung at Dyne's exposed ribcage--

Dyne turned to look, eyes widening. Something huge crashed against Squall's side, throwing him into the air. A cavernous, black mouth caught him as he fell, nearly impaling him with two large fangs. Naja shook him like a dog would shake a bone, and his gunblade flew away. Dropping him unceremoniously to the ground, Naja slithered back a few paces, hissing curses at Dyne.

"Conspire--against me?" Dyne snarled, pulling his blade out of the ground with a violent jerk. Bashing Squall on the chin with the handle as he tried to get up, he brought the tip down hard just beneath the SeeD's right shoulder bone, literally pinning him down. "You will--both--suffer--for this..." he added, breath heaving.

Pain lanced through Squall's shoulder as he tried to get up, and he gritted his teeth. His gunblade was on the ground a bit away, just out of reach. Looking up at Dyne, he wondered if he could possibly use one of the Demi spells.

Dyne kicked him, and he felt the magic draining out of him. Dyne had been listening to his thoughts again.

"I will give you one choice, Leonhart," Dyne continued. "Either--join me, or die. Either surrender and let the jacket take you, body, mind and soul--or I will rip your mind apart and give your body to Naja to play with. Which--will it be?"

_My gunblade... _ Concentrating, he tried to make his hand reach out those few extra centimeters. Furiously, Dyne kicked it away.

"Which. Will. It. _BE?_!" he roared.

_Neither..._

Dyne kicked him again. "Ten seconds, Leonhart. Surrender by then or die. Ten!"

_I have no choice? Can't be. Isn't there always a choice?_

"Nine!"

_Can't use magic, can't reach my gunblade, sure as hell won't be able to talk my way out..._

"Eight! Seven!"  
_  
Is this... the end?_

"Six! Five! Four!"

_If I surrender, at least I'll still be alive. I'll still have a chance... no. I'd just be some manipulated... zealot._

_"Three!"_

_Is that better than death? I might never get out--am I willing to take that risk? Just like... Edea..._

_"Two!"_

_'All I could do was... surrender myself to Ultimecia, and lose control of my mind.' It's better than death, I suppose..._

_"ONE!"_

Squall raised his left hand; his right shoulder was hurting so much that he wasn't inclined to try to move it. Dyne looked at him, waiting.

"Yield," Squall said.

Dyne stared at him for a moment longer. Then he laughed. First it was softly, then the volume rose. Then he was doubled up, with his head thrown back. "Excellent! You'll provide me some fun yet!" The laughter died down, and Dyne looked down at Squall. "But first," he said, voice silky-smooth. "First you'll pay for a bit of what you did to me." Stretching out his hand, he smiled evilly. "This is going to sting a bit. ...then it's going to hurt a lot."

Placing a hand on the hilt of his blade, Dyne smiled again. Pain ripped through Squall, and he closed his eyes, clenching his teeth. The pain increased, until he wasn't sure he wasn't screaming.

Then, mercifully, he blacked out.


	27. Water Landing

VII_  
"If it ain't broke, break it 'til it is."  
--Instructor Kan Ghibli, Principles of Sabotage, Trabia Garden  
_

* * *

Three days later, Zell stared up at the ceiling of the hanger in the Ragnarok. Trabia Garden was outside somewhere, still effecting repairs and now had a team dedicated to fortify it. Quistis's findings on the Crystal Pillar had been pathetically few, and their next course of action hadn't been decided yet. 

Zell yawned, stretching. He would have liked to be in his room at Balamb Garden, with his punching-bag in the corner. Or better yet, his room in Balamb with _two_ punching bags.

"I still don't see why you haven't hammered him yet," Irvine said from the corner, startling Zell. "As far as I can tell, he's as big a jerk as ever."

"Seifer?" Zell snorted. "Because the last time I tried, Squall froze me in place for an hour and had Xu give me a lecture. I'm not about to see what Quistis might do." Zell swatted at a fly that had gotten in somehow. "This sucks. After all this running around, we just ran into a frickin' wall."

"Yeah," Irvine agreed. "What now? Back to Balamb?"

"Probably," Zell said. Standing up, he snagged a pillow with one finger. Moving over to the only other person in the room, he dropped it on his face.

"Snk...wh--huh? What? Is it morning yet?" Nida asked, pushing the pillow away and blinking. "Oh, great. Don't tell me I overslept again."

"Only if you consider one o'clock in the afternoon a bit late to get up," Zell said.

"Gimme a break," Nida mumbled, rubbing his eyes. "I was up until four in the morning helping out with Trabia's engines. Where are we going?"

"Balamb, most likely," Irvine said. "Nowhere else to go."

The door to the hanger slid open, reveiling a far-too-familiar white-clad person. He was grinning ear to ear.

"Good... _morning_, Nida," Seifer said. "Nice to see you're awake."

"The pleasure's all yours, I'm sure," Nida said. "I suppose it would be too much to ask you to jump off a cliff?"

"Really, Nida," Seifer said. "Be nice to people who bring good news."

"Good news? From you? Isn't that a contradiction in terms?" Irvine asked. Seifer threw something at him, and Nida barely managed to catch it. It was a peice of paper. Unfolding it, he read it aloud.

"It's a headline: 'Galbadian traitors turned in.' Says..."

He read it silently, and looked up at Seifer. Looking back at the paper, he read it more slowly.

"What?" Zell asked.

"It's a printout from Trabia's news program. It says that almost fifty Galbadian criminals guilty of varying counts of treason have been turned in, along with several civilians, who have been released. Listed among the civilians was someone named Dobe, former mayor of Fisherman's Horizon. The criminals reached Galbadia on a black boat, and were guarded by thirty armored men."

"So it's a good bet they've taken FH," Seifer said. "And that gives us our next destination. Helmsman Nida, plot the course."

"Sure," Nida said. Running a hand through his hair, he pushed past Seifer.

"Who made you the leader?" Zell grumbled.

"None of you were doing anything, so I decided to help out," Seifer said. "What, I suppose you don't want to go to FH? Not follow the one lead we have because it's my idea?"

"Never said that," Zell muttered. "I'd better go see if Nida needs any help. Didn't get much sleep, you know."

"Yeah, chi--Zell. Between the two of you, you might manage to get us all killed."

Zell snapped something indestinct, moving to follow Nida. It wasn't until he got to the bridge that he noticed that Seifer had stopped himself from calling him 'chicken-wuss,' and wonder what it meant.

"Whoa! What is _up_ with that place?"

_It's been occupied,_ Seifer thought, looking out the window. A veriatable fleet of the low, three-hulled ships was patrolling the waters around FH and along the Horizon tracks, and there was a black double-ring around the edge of Fisherman's Horizon that looked surprisingly like artillary.

"I'd take us in closer, but those weapons in the inner ring look anti-air," Nida said. "Tell the truth, I have no idea how much punishment this thing can take."

"Well, we just found their base. No what do we do?"

"We go down there and bust stuff up!" Selphie said, jumping into the air.

"Go ahead, if you want to get slaughtered. Or captured." Seifer shook his head. "We can't do anything yet."

"What?" Zell asked, spinning to look at him.

"What do you mean?" Quistis demanded.

"It looks like their main base. More spikes than a Cactuar," he said, motioning to the weaponry. "I don't think we'd be able to even land, much less invade."

"Soooo...?" Selphie asked.

"Back to Balamb. Now that we know where he is, he'll be easier to keep an eye on. And we can check if Xu's found anything with her background checks."

"All right," Nida said. "Setting course for Bala--"

The Ragnarok jerked underneath them, and Zell and Selphie fell to the ground. Quistis's head slammed against the wall, and she gritted her teeth painfully. "What just happened?" she asked.

Nida had turned back to the control panel, and was punching buttons. "Craap. Oh, craaaap. Why me?"

"What _happened?"_ Seifer snapped, grabbing the back of a chair as the ship jerked again.

"Hold on," Nida said. Hitting the intercom, he yelled "_Brace!"_

The ship took a dive, and three sleek, metal objects whizzed above the cockpit. "We just got the welcoming reception," Nida said. Zell struggled up into the copilot's seat, grabbing the control panel as the ship righted itself, then shuddered and went into a dive again. The lift sunk and rose, and Irvine rushed over to the weapons console.

"Damn it! What happened?"

"Long-range missiles," Nida said. "EMP missiles. Our main thruster just cut out!"

"That's not good, right?" Irvine asked. "Sefie! Take aux. weaponry!"

Selphie swung up into the chair on the other side of the bridge, looking over the console. "What do we do?" she yelled, pounding the side of the display.

"We're heading right towards FH!" Nida yelled.

"Fire auxillary beam cannons!" Irvine yelled.

"How do you target? I can't target!"

"Just _point and shoot,_ dammit!" Seifer yelled.

A line of fire appeared below them as the Ragnarok's weaponry hit the Fisherman's Horizon roads, and Nida managed to get the ship more or less upright. Pulling them into a steep climb, he felt himself pushed back into the chair as the ship went almost vertical.

"Stop it!" Seifer yelled. "The engine's going to stall!"

"It's a frickin' spaceship! It's supposed to fly upwards!" Zell yelled, but leveled the ship anyway. It immediatly went off-balance and headed downwards.

"We need to get out of here," Nida yelled. "Put as much distance between them and us as we can!"

Something detonated just outside the cockpit, showering the air around them with flak. Nida hit something on the console, and looked at Zell.

"We just lost backup thrusters," he said.

"Dive," Seifer snapped. "Take us under FH!"

"What, are you crazy? This this is a spacecraft, not a submarine! We could be crushed!" Nida tried to level out the ship, but it didn't work too well.

"Estharan tech, it'll be fine! We sure as hell aren't getting out of here without thrusters, and they can't target us under the city!"

"Quis--" Irvine started.

"Do it!" Seifer snapped. "Unless you want to be blown up!"

"...do it," Quistis said.

Nida nodded, glancing out the window. The ship went into a dive again, left rear engine actually scraping FH with a horrid, squealing noise. The view from the cockpit was obscured by whitecaps, then it cleared. Nida set the engine into reverse, and watched as the ship moved backwards. There was an ominous, gurgling noise, and they stopped.

"What just happened?" Seifer asked. Nida hit a few buttons on the pad, and turned to look at him.

"The engines are flooded," he said. Thrusters are overloaded, engines are flooded, and we're sinking to--"

There was a grinding noise as the ship shook. Then nothing.

"Make that we're _at_ the bottom of the ocean," Nida said. "Geez. I have been in some rough situations since I joined SeeD, but I can't imagine ever topping this one."

"At least we're right-side-up," Selphie offered.

"At least we're alive," Seifer grumbled.

"This sucks," Zell complained.

"Hey, if we open the entrance, since it's on the bottom of the ship it shouldn't flood," Selphie said. "Then we could go fix the engines!"

"While _what?_ holding our breath?" Seifer shook his head. "That's a saltwater ocean out there. Water cold enough to kill you. No one's going out there."

"As touching as this sudden concern for our welfare is," Quistis said, "I'd have to disagree. We have to fix the engines, unless we want to spend the rest of our lives down here."

"They must have maintenance suits around here somewhere," Nida said. "They'd be enough like diving suits. If the oxygen tanks are still full. If they're pressure suits. If--"

"Sure, fine, whatever. Let's find the suits," Seifer said, dismissing it with an offhand wave and heading for the back of the cockpit. Nida jumped up and went to the lift with him, unwilling to leave him alone. The platform sunk.

"Seifer, sometime in the near future I'm going to have to teach you the limits of this ship," Nida said. "That could have gotten us all killed. It still might, if we can't get out of here."

"Or, we could have stayed up there and gotten blown apart by the anti-air batteries. I'll take my chances with the fishies, thanks," Seifer said, voice heavy with sarcasm.

Nida moved to the hanger, where a door-sized patch on the wall proved to be a hatch. Inside were about eleven silver body suits, very much like the kind the soldier wore except with a heavy pack on the back and what looked like the bottom of a gas mask on the bottom half of the face. Nida pulled one out, holding it against himself.

"A bit too big, but it should work. Look like they're about your size, Seifer."

Seifer pulled one out, and looked at it. Opening the seal on the back, he looked at the inside. It was fuzzy, with covered wires running through it.

"...the hell?"

"Heating system, I'm guessing," Nida said, crawling into his and sealing it. "Fits well enough, I guess," he said through the helmet. Pulling the oxygen tank on, he heard it attach to the seal. Looking at a watch-like instument, he said "It says thirty-five slash sixty; Oxygen Supply. Probably thirty-five minutes left."

"Mine has forty-two," Seifer said. "Will it be enough?"

"How should I know? I just fly the thing, I have no idea about repairing it!"

_Between him and chicken--ah, Zell...We are _so_ doomed,_ Seifer thought exasperatedly. "Well, let's go see what there is to see. Follow me."

Moving back to the entrance, Seifer noticed that Zell had lowered the stairs. Due to the close proximity of the ocean floor, however, the ramp hadn't extended all the way. There was a two-meter gap between it and the ship, but that was all.

Seifer stepped into the water, and the coiled wire began to heat up. Forcing his way through the water around the ship, he dragged himself to the engines. Looking into one of the huge tubes, he checked to make sure Nida was coming and crawled inside.

"Hey, intercom," Nida said, voice faint but clear. "This suit's decked out."

"So how do we get the water out of here?" Seifer waved a hand through it. "I doubt they have a pump on board."

"We either blow it out, burn it out or suck it out until we can fire the engines, then it'll stay out by itself."

"Demi?"

"Might break the ship." He paused signifigantly. "That'd be bad."

"Firaga?"

"Doesn't last long enough."

"Why can't we burn the engines now?"

"Because they're _flooded_, Seifer!"

_Ugh. I am not going to be stuck down here for the rest of my life. What can we do?_ "If we set off some Demi spells just a bit away from the engines then fired them while the Demi had absorbed all the water, would that work?"

"It might not draw out all the water." Nida looked at the back reaches of the engine. "Wish I had a flashlight." He looked at the oxygen monitor, which was glowing faintly. In fact, the entire suit was glowing faintly. "Thirty-one minutes."

"Hey, g-guys?" Another suit came into view. "Find anything yet?"

"No," Nida said, treading water to turn around. Selphie waved, in her hand was clenched some kind of white plastic sheet with blue writing.

"Kiros found this under one of the computers. He says he can't understand a bit of it, and to give it to you."

"Great," Nida said, swimming out of the engine. Taking the sheet, he looked it over. "Hmm. I see." scanning across it, he nodded. "...interesting. I still have no idea what to do."

"Let me see that," Seifer said, grabbing it. "Hmm... what the hell?" Seifer reread it. He guessed there couldn't be less than forty-two words over ten letters in the thing. "This doesn't help at all."

"No, it really doesn't," Selphie agreed. "But it's the only thing we have, unless you want everyone to get out and push."

"What would happen if we burned the engine while it was flooded, Nida?"

Nida spread his arms out and shrugged. "Dunno. I could check the specs on the computer, though."

"You do that. Selphie, how much air do you have left?"

Selphie shrugged, and Nida pointed at her wrist. Looking, she shrugged again. "Forty-seven minutes."

"Let's check the ship, see if there's any damage."

"And let you off by yourself?" Selphie asked. "You might blow something up!"

"I want to get out of here as much as you," Seifer growled. "Just trust me for once."

Nida swam away, and Seifer started pulling himself up, hand-over-hand, on the back of the ship. Heaving himself onto the hoodlike structure that overhung the engines, he paused.

A gargantuan, black object was approaching from up ahead.

Cursing, he swam towards the entrance. Pulling himself into the ship, he yelled "Selphie! Get the hell back inside!" into the suit intercom. Running up into the cockpit, he rushed over to the controls.

"Seifer! What are you doing?"

"There's something out there," Seifer explained to Quistis. "A submersible. It's coming this way."

"Can we move yet?"

"No." Seifer rammed his fist into the controls. "Dammit! I'm sure as _hell_ not gonna die down _here!"_

Quistis turned, looking at the black shape approaching. "Squall might be on that ship," she said.

"Yeah, he probably is," Seifer said, still staring at the controls. "So wha--oh no no _no_, Instructor," he said, turning to her. "We are _not--"_

"We're going over there," Quistis said.


	28. Rescue Attempt

VIII  
_"I've never wanted to be able to meet my enemies face to face. I keep seeming to."  
--Vinzer Deling  
_

* * *

"Take us down." 

Squall listened to his own voice, wishing he wasn't so helpless. He couldn't as much as blink on his own. It was as if he was only a spectator in his own body. He had been moving around since earlier, issuing orders he didn't want obeyed, overseeing work he didn't want completed. He had full faculty of all his senses, but not his actions. _He_ hadn't been the one taking those actions--it had been the jacket.

"There's someone outside the ship, Sire," one of the jacketed men said. "Which means there's a way in."

"Excellent," Dyne aid from his throne behind Squall. "Open the lower hatch doors. We'll be getting some new prisoners soon." By the sound of his voice, Squall could tell that the sorcerer had turned to face him. "Though what they'll say when they find their commander in this state, I don't know."

As if it was agreeing with him, the wound on Squall's shoulder throbbed a few times. The jacket ignored it. "They'll be wanting to invade," the jacket said. "Send a few troops down there. Make it look good."

"Yes, Sire."

Dyne chuckled. "When you capture them, bring them to us. No--even better, let them find their way here by accident. Close off all the halls leading to irrelevant portions of the ship."

"Yes, Sire."

Squall stepped forward to look at the console. "Ragnarok was fitted with eleven suits. If eleven people arrive, then send a squadron to take the ship."

"Yes, Sire."

_Yes, Sire, yes, Sire, yes, Sire,_ Squall thought. _Is this their entire life? Is that really what the jacket does to you?_ He tried to sigh, surprising himself when he didn't. _Maybe I can see why Naja wanted to die. After years of this, will I want to too?  
No. Don't think like that. There will not be years of this. There can't be... or is that just wishful thinking? It's perfectly possible that I'll never get out of this--_

If he could have sighed, he would have. This was an example of why Rinoa called him a pessimist. He didn't think he was being pessimistic--just realistic. _No point in raising your hopes just to have them dashed._

"In the mean time, evacuate this room and the antechamber. We will meet these invaders alone."

"Yes, Sire." The jacketed man stood up and moved about his buisiness.

Dyne laughed. "Now, my reluctant knight, we shall wait."

_I am not your knight,_ Squall thought. _I plan to be as little like Seifer as possible here._

Waiting was Squall's least favorite part of anything. When a problem presented itself, he could deal with it. If there were decisions to be made, he could handle it. But the moment there was nothing to do he started thinking. And thinking was rarely enjoyable.

_It's a good bet Laguna will feel some sort of misplaced parental obligation to come after me,_ he thought. _And Seifer--whether he wants to redeem himself or just strike out at the world in general and sorcery in partcular, he'll probably show up. And Quistis--she gets depressed easily, I've noticed. How will she be holding up? Will she be along, too?  
In command, I'm guessing. Of course, who else? She's the one I would trust most. And in that entire group, is there one other person I would trust to lead?_

The jacket prevented him from pacing, and Squall wondered if he could possibly go insane. He had never imagined that it would be quite so annoying to not be able to do _anything_.

"Someone approaches," Dyne said. "Leonhart, you will face them."

The jacket nodded. There was the sound of someone opening the antechamber door, then a pause.

"I think they're here," said a very familiar voice.

"Duh, Seifer," said another. "Come on out, you sorcerer scum! 'less you're afraid?"

"Heh. Afraid? Of you? My _dear_ Zell, I could crush you like an ant beneath my heel. Why should I be _afraid?"_ Dyne called. The door to the throne room burst open, and Zell stormed in. He was wearing an odd, silvery body suit. Squall could see through the doorway that Seifer was too--his missing a helmet, however.

"Give us back Squall, you silver-haired geek!" Zell yelled. There was a flash of anger in Dyne's eyes, but it subsided so quickly Seifer decided he hadn't seen it.

"Really? You think I should? Heh... and what if Squall doesn't want to go with you?"

Seifer watched as Squall raised his gunblade, cocking it. "You'll never get us to beleive that," he said. "Of all the stupid decisions he may have made, going with you isn't one."

"Show them, Leonhart," Dyne said. "Prove that their arrival here was a mistake."

Seifer drew his gunblade. "Ordinary luck," he said. "Zell, bring the gang."

"An' leave you here?" Zell asked. "Not bloody likely!"

"Eheh." Seifer put on a look of extreme sufference. "Zell," he said, more slowly. "Get everyone. And come. _Back_. Here."

There was a moment's pause, and Zell shrugged and left. Seifer did a few experimental swings with the blade, smiling.

"Just like that day in the mountains," he said, running a hand over his scar. "Let's see who wins this time."

Not giving him a chance to respond, Seifer charged. The blades met with a crash, showering sparks. Squall spun out of the way, bringing the tip of the gunblade towards Seifer's leg. Seifer jumped back and brought the gunblade down as Squall raised his, the clash ringing like a bell through the room.

Sliding his gunblade along the length of Seifer's, Squall grazed Seifer's neck. Parrying, Seifer jumped backwards to get in a good swing. Ducking it with a skill that looked effortless, Squall lunged forward and caught Seifer's chin with the hilt of the sword. The Greiver medallion whipped forward, scraping his neck and drawing more blood. Seifer dropped like a stone, dazed.

_Not this time, Squall,_ he thought, shaking his head to clear it. Rolling out of the way of a stab, he pointed the gunblade and took three potshots at Dyne. As he had expected, Squall immediately repositioned himself to be between him and the sorcerer. _It's just a bit too obvious that you're under his wing._

Pulling himself to his feet, he jumped at Squall and landed a punch on his jaw. Squall tried to bash him with the hilt again, but Seifer managed to grab the cartedge and pull the gunblade out of Squall's grasp. It went clattering to the floor by the doorway.

Squall paused, the jacket trying to decide whether to get the blade or protect Dyne. It was all the opening Seifer needed.

Raising his gunblade, he slashed at the jacket with all his strength. It should have been enough force to chop Squall in two, but it only sliced through the cloth of the jacket like a hot knife through butter. Sparks flew as the blade pulled across the wires, and Squall staggered backwards into the wall. But the wiring, if not all the actual jacket, stayed on.

"What?" Dyne snarled, looking at Squall.

_Free...?_ Squall wondered. Concentrating, he tried to move his hand. It moved, but barely. _Partial freedom--is it enough? Can I--_

"No!" Dyne yelled. Standing up, he thrust a hand towards Squall and cast Stop. Drawing his masamune, he cast a Silence on Seifer. "You'll pay for this insult!" he raged.

"Give up!" Seifer yelled at him. "You can't win!"

"I'm not just in this to _win,"_ Dyne replied cryptically, with the tiniest hint of desperation. Lunging, he swung the blade.

Seifer found himself fighting for his life, and losing ground. Dyne was a much better swordfighter than he was. Some sort of superhuman talent and incredible finesse merged in the swordplay to drive him back, until his back was at the antechamber wall with Dyne's sword hovering between his eyes.

"It seems I have yet another servant," Dyne said silkily. "Guar--ggh!"

The long katana he had held dropped to the ground, and Dyne raised both hands to his neck. Quistis tugged her chain whip free as he cast what looked like Curaga on himself, and stepped back. Seifer almost reached for the sword when it disappeared, to reappear in Dyne's hand.

"Impeccable timing, madame," Dyne said darkly. Stepping back, he held out a hand, palm facing her. "But now I think it's time for you to leave."

A black bubble formed around her, and she tried to step back. Seifer cursed and tried to grab at her, but couldn't reach her.

"Ooooh, noooo...!" someone else yelled from the hallway outside. "Not this time, bubbo!"

A Reflect sheild appeared around Quistis just as Demi reached its max, sending it back at Dyne. Dyne banished it with a wave of his hand, balling it into a fist.

Selphie, Rinoa and Nida came rushing into the room, Nida with a breif admiring look at the masamune-katana.

_Bubbo...? That has to smart._ "Give it up, Dyne," Seifer said again. "It's over."

Stepping back, Dyne looked at the five. Then he raised both hands. "I... surrender." Seifer stared at him for a moment; he hadn't expected it would be that easy.

"What?" Nida whispered. Dyne smiled silkily, and began to chuckle.

"Is that what you want me to say?" the sorcerer continued. "Too bad. I don't surrender. Others surrender to me. Like you."

_/Warning. Air purification systems failing. Evacuate ship, repeat, evacuate ship./_

"What?" Selphie asked.

"Did you not expect?" Dyne said. "I always triumph."

_/Warning. Fuel leak. Air toxin levels at 0.03 percent and rising. Evacuate ship, repeat, evacuate ship./_

Dyne stepped back into the throne room, and a siver energy field warped across the entance. Seifer rushed forward, but was thrown into the air as he tried to approach.

_/Warning. Hull breech imminent in the following locations--/  
/Warning. Air toxin levels at 2.08 percent and rising--/  
/Warning. Air purifiers have failed--/  
/Warning. Reserve oxygen pressure exceeding tank parameters. Explosion imminent--/_

"Damn it!" Seifer yelled at the barrier, struggling to his feet. "Don't you think this is overdoing it a bit?"

"We have to get out of here!" Selphie yelled. "He broke the ship!"

Seifer paused, used an Echo Screen, and tryed to cast Dispel on the barrier over the door. It didn't work. "Squall's in there with Dyne," he said. We can't get to him. He should be safe for now, though--"

_/Warning. Air toxin levels at 3.79 percent and rising. Immediate evacuation advised./_

"Who cares?" Selphie yelled, panic showing through the helmet. "We'll come back, right! But now we gotta go!"

"Run," Quistis agreed.

_/Estimated time to O-tank explosion; three minutes and fifty-three seconds. Estimated time to fatal air toxin levels, two minutes and fifteen seconds. Estimated time to--/_

"We have three minutes to get out of here," Rinoa moaned. Looking out the door, Seifer saw the corridor was empty.

"All clear. Let's run!" Grabbing his helmet from the floor and dashing down the hall, Seifer called "What happens when the oxygen tanks explode?"

"I don't--"

_/Chain reaction causing firestorm and subsequent partial or total destruction of ships interior/ _the computer answered.

"I did _not_ need to know that," Seifer yelled back at it, strugglinh to reactivate the seal on his helmet. "Which way do we bloody frickin' _go?"_

Quistis pulled to a stop at the intersection. "Uhm... right!"

_/Warning. O-tank explosion imminent in three minutes. Immediate evacuation advised./_

"I'm going, I'm going!" Nida glanced back over his shoulder. "No one's following us, at leas--"

Something very hard slammed into his chest as he rounded a corner, and he found himself on the ground. Seifer drew his gunblade, looking at the thing Nida had run into. Quistis's whip snapped above his head.

"Hsss..." something said. Nida stared up into the glaring, angry eyes of a very, very large black cobra.

"Uh, oh..." Rinoa whispered.

_We really do not need this right now,_ Seifer thought. "Back!" he snapped at the thing waving his gunblade in fromt of its face.. To his surprise, it actually backed up a few paces.

"You failed," it hissed. "Dyne is sssssstill alive."

"Yeah, well, next time he won't be," Seifer said, cocking the blade. The cobra blinked.

"Make sure he isssssn't," the thing said, turned, and slithered away.

"Wh--what just happened there?" Nida asked.

_/Warning. Air toxin levels at 6.54 percent and rising. O-tank explosion in two minutes and fifteen seconds./_

"Haste!" Seifer yelled, remembering the journey across the Horizon Bridge. "Cast haste!"

And, of course, from that point on he had no idea what happened. The world faded into slow motion around him, and he barely managed to direct his hectic flight down the corridors. He vaguely remembered seeing someone get stuck in the hatch in front of him, ramming into them--the sudden cold of the water, air bubbles escaping from two suits--a mechanized voice droning about something--hands grabbing him, dragging him aboard the Ragnarok--then absolutely nothing as someone cast Sleep on him and he drifted off.

Dully, Squall wondered how they were going to get him back into the jacket. He didn't doubt that they would, but he wondered what measures they would take to stop him from trying to escape. In the end, they just forced a mask over his face and drugged him to the teeth.

Then, just to make sure, they took a bludgeon and knocked him out anyway.


	29. New Leader

IX_  
"Sorry, Zell."  
--Squall, shortly before appointing Quistis leader of the Gateway Team_

* * *

"I f-feel siiiiick..." moaned someone from the other side of the room. "I think I'm gonna throw up..." 

Seifer pried open his eyes, wincing as the light hit him. Nida was hovering over him, a glass of something thick and brown in one hand. Seifer had to blink several times to get rid of the glowing aura surrounding him.

"Congratulations," Nida said. "You just got a light case of hypothermia, a concussion, a fair case of brine poisoning and damn near fractured every rib you had. How do you feel?"

"Never been better," Seifer growled. "What happened?"

"Selphie's suit snared on the hatch, then you come along and ram into her oxygen tank. Ripped your suit and hers, but it worked. Oh, yeah, and the sub's still intact. All of that bad stuff aborted or was corrected or something. I think Dyne was just playing games with us. And we busted the Ragnarok's engines pretty well when we got out. I'll tell you about it later."

"How about now?"

Nida sighed. "Well, the Ragnarok's engines were designed to be used in space, in a complete vacuum. The diagnostic only works when the engines are in a vacuum, too, you see--but it can be run while the ship in in the atmosphere. So there are these two metal doors that can close over the engines, and then the pumps can suck everything out so its a vacuum. We did that, then fired the engines manually while the diagnostic was running. It broke the doors and fried about half the engine while the door was being burnt away, but it worked."

"...yeah," Seifer said, wishing he hadn't asked. "Where are we?" Seifer asked, looking at the ceiling. It didn't look like the ceiling of any of the rooms in the Ragnarok, and it was definitely not like a room in Balamb Garden.

"Esthar, checking up on records and fixing the Ragnarok. We found out about Dyne's real name, and it turns out he was from here. The records end seven years ago, though. Well, it's kind of involved. But you'll see it soon enough. Here, drink this."

"Don't drink it," Selphie warned from the other bed. "It's gross."

Seifer pulled himself up into a sitting position, taking the glass from Nida. Making a face, he drained it. It was the bitterest thing he had ever tasted. "Yggh. What is this stuff?"

"Stuff for all the brine you swallowed," Nida explained. "Lie down for a bit. Like Selphie says, it'll make you feel a bit sick. Once that passes, I'll take you down to see Quistis."

"All right," Seifer agreed. "So, what's this with Dyne?"

Nida sighed. "I warned you, it's odd. Turns out Dyne's real name is Jared Tomaggru. You can tell why he changed his name, huh? Anyway, he was working in Esthar as a lab assistant to a... Doctor Lammers, I think. Anyway, Lammers was the kind of person who was only interested with their work--couldn't care less about morality and all those pesky little details." Nida made a face. "And since most of the research he was doing was about humans, he decided to use his lab assistants as test subjects."

Seifer grimaced as the medicine hit his stomach. "Sounds like a real nice guy."

"Doesn't he, though? Anyway, there were several theories Lammers was working on. One was the theory of Active Nerve Reception and Manipulation or something long and technical like that, which was basically mind control. Dy--err, Jared was submitted to these tests several times, with mixed results. Apparently Lammers found how to activate every nerve except the ones in the brain, that would be including pain receptors."

"Ow," Seifer commented.

"There was also something about gender roles in the inheritance of power, but it didn't go very far without a sorceress they could kill to study the transfer. Another was something with GFs, and they didn't have any so they couldn't do much more than theory there, either. Finally Lammers tried to do an experiment on Ja--heck, I'm just going to keep calling him Dyne--anyway, Lammers tried to do an experiment on Dyne that would have killed him within the week if it was successful, and Dyne just snapped. He and three other lab assistants ran away."

"I feel sick," Selphie moaned. Seifer's stomach was beginning to turn as well, and he began to wonder just what had been in the medicine.

"And?" he forced out through the nausea.

"And then he showed up a year ago, received Adel's powers, and has recently started bothering us. Feel sick yet? You look a little green."

Seifer nodded slightly.

"Close your eyes. It helps, I hear. Don't worry, you won't throw up, it will just feel an awful lot like you will."

"So we're dealing with a psycho," Seifer said.

"Yeah. He had been denoted unstable _before_ he took the job, and I overheard Quistis talking to the psychologist. They were naming off all the possible effects... paranoia, that sort of thing."

"So... he thinks everyone is out to get him, so he wants to kill them all?"

"Probably."

"So what--ungggh..."

Nida grinned and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. It'll wear off in a couple of hours."

_"Hours!_ Uggh..."

"Just kidding," Nida said. "You'll be fine in about ten minutes. Quistis and the rest are just in the other room."

"Urggh," Seifer said, nodding and squeezing his eyes shut. Nida stood, and moved off down the hall.

"So, like... what are we supposed to _do?"_

Quistis looked at Irvine. "Well, at least now we know where he is," she said. "Not like we can invade or anything, but we know about it."

"That doesn't help much," Irvine deadpanned.

A pained look crossed Quistis's face as she threw down her whip. "I know!" she burst in sudden anger. "Nothing has helped since the beginning of this damn... _crusade!"_

Everyone jumped. None of them had ever seen Quistis act so upset. "Instructor--" Zell began. Looking over, she sighed and shook her head.

"Sorry. It's just--this is--getting to me."

_No kidding,_ Seifer thought. _You miss Squall, don't you? Everyone here does. You relied on him so much, that now you don't know what to do without him._

_Kind of pathetic_.

"So what do you think, Seifer?" Nida asked. Seifer almost jumped. Everyone turned to stare at the helmsman, who shrugged. "What? Haven't you noticed that he's been the one pretty much running things around here?"

"What?" Quistis asked.

"Me?" Seifer balked.

"_What?"_ Zell demanded.

"Something in the food, Nida?" Irvine suggested.

Nida sighed. "Who is it that dragged us to FH? Who is it that pulled us _under_ FH when they started firing at us? Who is it who went out to check on the engines? Or saved everyone on chocobo? Or took over when we invaded the sub? I can go on, you know."

"Uhh--" _He can't be serious--_ Seifer looked around the circle.

"Seifer is the one with the most command experience," Quistis conceded.

Seifer felt almost exactly as if someone had hit him on the back of the head with a board, minus the pain. _What are they doing?_

"Oh, no. No way. In case no one noticed, he tried to _kill_ all of us. Remember? Tortured Squall, junctioned Rinoa to Adel, sided with the sorceress... anyone else remember all that?"

Looking around the circle, Seifer saw an entire range of blank expressions. Three people stood out, though: Laguna was giving him an odd, piercing look, Nida looked slightly smug and very pleased with himself, and Zell was a mixture of disbelief and rage.

"True, but..." Quistis turned to stare at Seifer. "He's been a help, so far. I guess... a lot of us wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him."

"Instructor," Zell said. "You can't be serious. He killed Odin. He tried to kill us, almost _did_ kill Squall. Held Ellone hostage, had us all imprisoned--"

"He saved Squall," Quistis said. Dead silence greeted the remark.

"...what?" asked Laguna, leaning forward and glancing at Seifer. Quistis shrugged.

"At Fisherman's Horizon, the first time. With the invasion. When we all thought Squall was dead. Seifer saved him. Otherwise he would have been."

Seifer blinked. _All right. I will wake up in three... two... one... why am I not waking up? This is a dream, this is a dream, this is a dream..._

"And at Trabia," Rinoa piped up. "He saved me."

"Tee-hee," giggled Selphie. "It's funny to say it, but, me too. Coming out of the sub."

_I didn't plan that, _Seifer thought. _That was just sort of an accident._

Zell looked around. "Come _on,"_ he said. "All the times we've fought together? I've saved you all plenty of times."

"And we trust you just fine," Nida retorted.

"Zell," Quistis said. "Do you want to take over? I've already said I don't want to. Who else do you see here with the talents Seifer has?"

Zell looked around the circle, finally staring at Laguna. Laguna coughed and looked away.

"So it's decided, then?" Nida asked. "Seifer's the boss 'til Squall gets back. Anyone object?"

"_I_ object," Seifer said.

"Yeah, _me!"_ Zell said at the same time. Nida shrugged.

"You're both outvoted."

"_What?"_ both asked simultaniously. Zell jumped up. "No _way_, man!"

_I--uh--I--what? In charge? Of them? Ugh... and I thought they all still hated me. Zell does._

"So, what's your first command?" Nida asked, still with the smug look on his face. Seifer guessed it was his way of getting back at everyone for ignoring him.

_I will get you for this, Helmsman Nida. _ "Uh... yeah, I was going to suggest--" Seifer looked around the room. "If we found a ship that looks enough like one of theirs, and wear wireless jackets, maybe we could get in? I don't think they're guarded against their own people--they wouldn't think anyone in a jacket could be a threat."

"Like a nest of ants," Kiros remarked.

"...yeah. And if we get in, then... well, that's as far as I got. I was just going to offer it as the basis for a plan, but..."

"The GFs," Rinoa said. "Maybe we could get the GFs to help us. You know, they're still lending us their power--like magic, and all--just not letting us summon them? Maybe we can convince them to do more!"

"Sounds good," Laguna said. There was an uncomfortable pause until Seifer figured out that they were waiting on his order.

"Yeah. That's what we'll do," Seifer said, beginning to sort his thoughts out again. "Rinoa, Quistis, you'll come with me to talk to the GFs. Everyone else, try to find two jackets and way to get one of their ships."

"Only two jackets?" Zell asked suspiciously.

"We want a small party. We'll be less conspicuous."

"Tch!" Zell stood up, swatting a fist into his hand. "Fine. I'll be on the Ragnarok."

Without waiting for a response, he left the room. _I guess he's not too happy about this,_ Seifer noted. _Fair enough. Neither am I. I just hope he has enough sense to follow orders._

"Now, where's the nearest wide open space?" Seifer asked.

"Just outside the city," Nida said. "You could walk there from here. See you."

"Bahamut," Seifer said. "He seems like the ringleader of this little operation."

Rinoa nodded. "Okay. Umm..." concentrating, she closed her eyes.

Seifer waited, unsure of what to say when the GF arrived. He had never talked to a GF before. He doubted many people had. As he thought about it, it occurred to him that Rinoa was taking an unusually long time to summon him. Finally, she sighed, took a deep breath and sat down.

"That was hard," she said. "But I think he's coming."

Seifer was about to say something when a sphere of unimaginable energy appeared in front of them, then detonated. All three of them were knocked backwards by the blast.

"I warned you _never_ to call us again!" Bahamut roared. "Why have you?"

Seifer struggled up. "We need your help to--"

"No!" Bahamut spread his wings, showing a clawed hand to Seifer. "I have already said, _no!"_

"But surely, to defeat Dyne--" Quistis started.

"You _fools!_ You would have my pit myself against him? The one who has held Naja in his grip for years? We do not _sacrifice_ ourselves for any _human!_ Our lives are our own!"

"Naja?" Seifer asked.

"Naja was one of us. A most powerful Guardian. Now he is reduced to Dyne's _lapdog!"_

_Lapdog...?_ Seifer remembered something: in the Deling Parade, when Squall had tried to kill the Ultimecia-posessed Edea. He had asked if Seifer had become Edea's lap dog. "You mean--"

"Dyne's power: the power of the GF! We will not surrender to him. We will, instead, survive."

"But--" Rinoa said.

"I said _no,_ human child, human _fool! NO!_ We do not understand the need that has driven you to ask this of us. But as long as I hold any influence over the lives of my comrades, none shall help you in this vain crusade." The GF turned, folded his wings, and disappeared.

"What...?" Quistis asked. "He just said...?"

"There goes Plan A," Seifer said. "Well, it was an idea."

"But--" Rinoa looked at at Seifer, and put her head on her knees. "But..."

"We'll think of something else, Rinoa, don't worry," Quistis said. "We should probably get back to the Ragnarok."

Seifer, feeling completely awkward, patted Rinoa's shoulder. Quistis gave him a surprised look, which he ignored. "You coming?"

"You go on," Rinoa said. "I wanna think about something."

Quistis glanced at Seifer, then shrugged. "All right, but don't wander too far. A lot of Lunar monsters are still around."

"I'll be fine," Rinoa said, waving them off. Quistis and Seifer turned and moved back to the city streets, while Rinoa thought.

_There's no way we can get Squall back without GFs, but they don't want to help. Why? 'cause they're afraid. Or they don't understand, like Bahamut said. But who would understand? I want Squall back. Do GFs know what love is? They have to, don't they?  
Maybe not, _she admitted. _You almost never see them together. But then... there wouldn't be anything I could do to make them understand..._

A thought struck her. _Maybe... maybe there is one or two GFs who know about love. Or friendship, at least. Like the two Brothers. That's it! Kinship, love... they're close enough, right?_

Jumping up, Rinoa concentrated on the Brothers. Sacred, the huge, red-horned one, and Minotaur, the smaller yellow-horned one. They looked sort of like bulls, but blue, bipedal, and with hands instead of hoofs on the front legs. They were Earth-elementals, but each carried a huge mace as well.

It was a lot easier to summon the Brothers, maybe because she was more accustomed to them. Soon enough, both huge GFs were standing in front of her.

"HEY, BRO," Sacred said, voice loud enough to startle rocks. "WE GOT CALLED, BUT THERE'S NOTHING TO SMASH!" There was a hint of amusement in his voice.

"maybe this one can tell us why we were called," Minotaur said. The same, vague joking air was in his voice too, albeit much subtler.

"I was, umm, wondering if you could help me out?" Rinoa asked. Sacred shrugged, bringing the mace down on the ground with enough force to send a tiny tremor towards Rinoa.

"DEPENDS. WHAT CAN WE DO?"

"Well, you know about Dyne, right?" Rinoa asked. Both nodded. "Well, he sort of captured Squall--"

"THAT ONE? HE BEAT US, HOW'D HE GET BEAT?"

"i wonder if he knows we let him win," Minotaur said, smiling.

"Yeah, and I want to get him back, but..."

"HEY, ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS ASK," Sacred said. "SURE, WE'LL HELP OUT!"

"Thanks," Rinoa said. "Really. I didn't think--I mean, Bahamut said--"

"don't talk to bahamut," Minotaur said. "he's been in the core of that human facility so long he has a pretty skewed sense of... well, everything."

"WELL PUT, MIN!" Sacred laughed. "SO, LET'S ROUND UP A FEW OF OUR PALS, YOU GET US OVER TO STORM OR SQUALL OR WHATEVER, AND WE'LL GET HIM OUT."

"i'm sure diablos will be happy to lend transportation," Minotaur said.

"Diablos?"

"oh, yeah. he's always looking for a chance to me messing with bahamut. the dear dragon is wearing on our nerves, you know? acting too officious."

_So GFs do that too?_ Rinoa wondered. "That's great! Thanks, really, really, _thanks."_

"HEY, NO PROB. JUST GET US THERE, WE'LL DO THE REST."

The Brothers disappeared, and Rinoa clapped once. Turning, she ran back towards the Ragnarok.


	30. Deception

X_  
"There is nothing more dangerous than an enemy in the guise of a friend."  
--Truism_

* * *

Squall woke up with a hangover and a headache, and wondered why they had to drug him so heavily. His stomach was sending complaints to his brain, and he suspected that if he so much as looked at food, it would rebel. The sunlight hurt his eyes, forcing the jacket to close them again. 

"Guard," the jacket called. "Get me some medicine for this." There were the sounds of someone walking off, and he sat up. He felt light-headed.

_So they know I'm here,_ Squall thought. _If they got out. No, they can't have been captured. If they had, Dyne would be over here to gloat..._

There was a noise, and the jacket opened Squall's eyes. The guard was back, handing him a cup full of something. Taking it, he drank it. It was faintly magical, he guessed--it worked almost instantly. He stood up.

"Lord Dyne has gone to oversee the base on the Island Closest to Hell," the guard said. "The Guardian Naja has gone to the Island Closest to Heaven. You are to be in charge here, but Dyne will be in contact if you need him."

Squall nodded. _Whether or not I need him._

"Five days hence, everything shall be ready to begin the invasion of Esthar. Due to our position and the time it will take to move such a large quantity of troops, we will need to leave in three and a half. Shall we begin preparations?"

"Immediately."

"Yes, Sire." The guard turned and walked out, and Squall followed. _Five days until they hit Esthar. That's not much time. Hell... that's no time at all..._

"Sire!" someone yelled from down the corridor, and Squall looked up automatically. "Two jacketed men are coming. Escorting a sorceress."

_"What?"_

"They're on an... odd landing craft now, awaiting permission to dock. Shall we let them?"

The jacket paused. "They wear the jackets, do they not?"

"Yes, sir, but the sorceress--"

"I think we will have to trust Naja for now," the jacket replied evenly. The man nodded.

"Will you be in your throne room, Sire?"

_That would be Dobe's house,_ Squall translated. "Yes."

Taking a left on the street, Squall moved for the center of the city. _What can this be...?_

The inside of Dobe's house had been refurnished, to the somewhat sinister, lush surroundings Dyne favored. Black and silver were prominent, along with the snake motif he loved. However, this time there was also a fair-sized, golden statue of a lion. Griever. _Always gloating,_ Squall thought. _It's just to remind people like Naja and I that he has us._

Sitting in the throne, Squall tested the jacket again. Again, he could do nothing. _Even if I could,_ he thought, _what good would it do? I'd still be stuck here, and Dyne would get very suspicious if I tried to leave._

There was a noise outside, and a guard came in. Saluting, he motioned extravagantly to the door.

"Two jacketed men who claim to be two of our scouts have found a sorceress and brought her in. They seek an audience with your excellency."

"Who _claim...?"_

"Their landing craft was... unlike any of ours. Many doubt that they are truly in Lord Dyne's employ."

"Who are they?"

"I did not ask for names, my lord, but the Sorceress claims to be Sorceress Rinoa."

_Rinoa!_ The jacket took a double-take. "Describe them."

"Average height. Young, black-haired. Her companions are a taller, blonde man and a black-haired man of moderate size."

"Armed?"

"Her escorts are armed with blade weapons, one like yours and one a katana. The sorceress herself is not."

"Keep the escorts outside the throne room," the jacket said. "Bring the sorceress in."

The man nodded. Squall stood up, feeling his gunblade bump against his leg. _The descriptions sound a lot like Seifer and Nida,_ he thought. _But if they came here... why? The minute they grabbed me, they'd be found out and have the entire base down on them. Not a great plan. It makes no sense. Unless... unless these actually are Dyne's scouts. No--SeeD is the only place I know of that uses gunblades, and Seifer is the only person other than me who I know got one. But--_

There was a noise on the stairs, and Rinoa came into view, followed by a guard. "Leave us," the jacket snapped. The guard nodded, and turned to go back down the stairs.

Rinoa stepped forward. "So..." she started.

"You've made a mistake in coming here," the jacket said, glaring at her. _I couldn't agree more,_ Squall thought.

Rinoa giggled. "Well... I hope not. I dunno... I mean, this wasn't really my plan, you know?"

"Why are you here?"

Rinoa sighed. "I was hoping... we were hoping to get you back. Everyone really misses you."

"I serve Dyne now."

"Yes, but..." Rinoa stared at him. "...but..."

"Yearrgh!" An agonized scream sounded out from below, and Squall drew his sword, pushing past Rinoa. True to Squall's suspicion, Seifer came rushing up the stairs. The jacket didn't think twice--without even looking around, the blade swung to point at Rinoa. Seifer paused as fast as if someone had cast Stop on him.

"What are you doing?" the jacket growled, tightening Squall's finger around the trigger of his gunblade. Seifer's gaze flicked from him to Rinoa and back, and his jaw tightened.

Nida came up behind Seifer, skidding to a halt as he saw the scene. "Squall," he started. "What is he making you do?"

"Take one step forward," the jacket said slowly, "and she dies."

"Squall--" Rinoa said.

Squall cocked the gunblade menacingly.

_"Did you not expect?"_ Squall could almost hear his master's voice. _"I always triumph."_

_You can't make me kill... Rinoa..._ Squall thought, trying to lower the blade. The jacket, as always, was implacable. _You can't... make me do this..._

"Put the blade down," Seifer said. "Fight someone who can take it."

"I don't think you should be talking, Seifer," Squall said softly, in the dangerous, manipulative tone Dyne used. "Remember the Lunatic Pandora? Remember Ellone? And--"

He paused. There was the slightest sound behind him, one that the jacket immediately interpreted as _threat!_

And a threat was one thing the jacket would not tolerate.

Pulling the trigger, he heard the sharp retort as his mind screamed to stop it. There was a flash of horror in Nida's eyes--

--something round and hard slammed into the back of his knee, and it buckled as he fell to the ground. Rolling as he fell, he caught a glimpse of Rinoa, right shoulder bleeding heavily, struggling to her feet. He dropped his weapon as a yellowish, leathery hand slammed across his jaw, and he saw stars.

Within seconds Seifer and Nida had grabbed his arms, and a pair of blue arms wrapped around his legs. He opened his mouth to call for the guards, but the leathery hand clamped over it. Rinoa steadied his head, murmuring something like "We'll get you out," and Squall got a glimpse of a blood-slicked hand next to his face. Then the world whirled as he was swept off his feet and found himself suspended by his assailants, seen and unseen.

A dark hole appeared in front of him, and he struggled around enough to see who was holding his legs. The light in the room gleamed off of a pair of huge, blood-red horns and a giant iron mace. Sacred had him held motionless. The hole that had developed was on the other side of the room... Squall could almost feel the jacket measuring his chances.

_"Once he dons the jacket, each fighter has Naja's own skill..."_

Squall twisted, breaking Nida's grip. His right hand free, he groped for the handle to his gunblade. It closed around the Griever medallion, and he balled his fist and swung at Seifer. The sword swung through the air, dragging across the jacket and showering sparks as it hit the wires. Rinoa's hand darted out to grab it, but there was a sudden glow from the chain and she was thrown backwards. Squall's head dropped, hitting the floor hard as the blade cut across Seifer's cheek.

_The serpent engraving?_ Squall wondered, remembering the carving on the last link. The link that was glowing like a small, angry sun.

"Control him," came a soft voice that Squall recognized as Diablos. A red, muscular hand grasped the blade, pulling it out of his hold. The glow surrounded Diablos' hand, forcing him to drop it. Seifer, cheek bleeding almost as badly as Rinoa's shoulder, grabbed Squall's head and twisted it around, making it so that he couldn't move without sending spears of pain down his back.

The jacket didn't care about pain.

"Dammit!" Seifer yelled. "Nida!"

Nida grabbed Squall's arm again, and Minotaur transferred his hand from Squall's mouth to his shoulder. Sacred tightened his grip as Squall tried to kick, and he got a glimpse of Rinoa on the ground, the last tendrils of blue fire fading from her. A blue streak traced form the chain towards Sacred, and Squall could almost feel Dyne taking a hand in the proceedings from the remote Island Closest to Hell.

There was an oddly familiar noise from behind him, and all three of the GFs paused. A low, rumbling voice called out as the three humans struggled with Squall.

"I warned you not to come near them," Bahamut growled. "I _demand--"_

"You've been in the core too long," Diablos hissed. "You cannot command us, as you may think you can."

"This? From a fool who has slept in a black hole for generations, while events pass unnoticed with the rest of us? You have _no right_ to judge me!"

Squall ducked out of Seifer's grip, ramming a foot into his shin. Nida somehow got a hold on the back of his jacket, pulling him into a choke grip. His arm tightened around Squall's neck, and he tried to force him down to his knees... only to be sent flying into the wall as Squall flipped him in a basic SeeD self-defense move. Struggling to his feet, he caught a glimpse of the dragon-like GF before he turned to fight Seifer.

"We are not humans, who need aid to protect ourselves. Perhaps your long imprisonment has warped you more than you believe, Bahamut," Diablos said darkly. "We have always been strong enough to rule our own lives. Have you forgotten this in your rage?"

There was silence from the great GF. Then a thunderous roar sounded, and Squall felt something ram into the back of his head. He was crushed against a scaly body, strong arms holding him still. Seifer and Nida took their places at his sides, getting proper holds on his arms. Sacred grabbed his legs again, bearing him towards Diablos's netherworld.

The hole collapsed as they got through, and they pinned him to the floor. Seifer, blood coating his neck, motioned with his hand towards the jacket for a second. "Anyone have the slightest idea how to get this thing off?"

"Gahh," Bahamut snorted. Moving to take Sacred's place, he put a huge foot on Squall's legs. Bending over him, he shifted just enough weight down to keep him on the floor. Then, after a few seconds of inspecting the jacket, he set to work. His claws sheared through the fabric, massive jaws snapping through the wires with no more difficulty. Finally, the last of the jacket fell off.

With a sigh, Seifer pulled himself off the floor. Putting a hand to his cheek, he winced. "That's one more scar."

"Welcome back, Squall," Nida said, getting up stiffly. He seemed to be the only one who had escaped with nothing worse that a blackened eye. Bahamut, with a final snort, disappeared, followed closely by the rest of the Guardian Forces.

Squall opened his mouth to say something, but the removal of the jacket seemed to have some sort of... effect. The world faded as the strength drained out of him, and darkness claimed him.


	31. High Hopes And Homecomings

XI_  
"You'll dance with a perfect stranger but you won't even talk to me?"  
--Quistis Trepe, SeeD ball_

* * *

The SeeD dress uniform could hardly be considered comfortable, as it was never intended for battle _or_ casual living. Still, after living in Dyne's jacket, it was a considerable improvement. 

Squall stared down at the ground below the balcony, thinking. Music echoed from the dance floor, disappearing in the hum of the ring underneath the Garden. He recognised the tune--"Eyes On Me," a song Julia Heartilly had written for (and about) Laguna.

_Heartilly..._

Julia had married General Caraway, and had a daughter. Rinoa. Squall had never really thought about it--he wondered if Laguna knew...?

The Garden Festival had occured early this year, due to the Garden Festival Committee Selphie had set up months ago. Four days from now was supposed to be the SeeD entrance exam, and after that, the graduation party. Squall had been informed much earlier that he would be expected to make a speech to the graduating SeeDs. He was not looking forward to it.

Instead, he was still trying to forget what he had done. Forget the blood on Rinoa's shoulder, the flash of horror in Nida's eyes... the feeling of trying to kill the people who had come to save him. Even though none of it had technically been his fault.

_I only put the jacket on to save them. Now... now I'm just like Seifer. Except Seifer's our ally now... so it seems.  
So, one starts against, then allies... the other starts allied, then turns against. Equal and opposite. Just like the scars._

Without thinking, Squall ran a hand over his scar. Staring out across the horizon, he wondered if Dyne was still there, watching him. Listening in on his thoughts.

The sounds of the festival drifted back over to him. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. _How? How is it that, even with all this, they can relax?_ He watched as a flock of birds drifted underneath the Garden, silhouetted by the glow of the ring. _Each of _them_ fits in. Quistis, Zell, Irvine... everyone. Even Nida. But not me. I never have. The only thing that tied us all together was that we were all orphans... now I don't even have that. I know who my parents are. And one is still alive_.

Someone moved up behind him, and he closed his eyes. _Get away from me,_ he thought. _Can't you see I want to be alone?_

A hand touched his shoulder, and he almost jumped. Opening his eyes, he glanced around. Then, as he saw who it was, he turned back to the horizon. He couldn't stand the sight of that bandage on her shoulder.

"Want to dance?" Rinoa asked softly from behind him. "It might help you clear your mind."

_I doubt that,_ Squall thought. He began to say something, then decided against it. "..."

Rinoa sighed, moving up beside him. "I remember a year ago, we came here together. We saw a shooting star. I made a wish on that star..." She paused. Turning towards, him, she clasped the two rings she wore on a chain around her neck. "Listen," she said, motioning with her free hand towards the ballroom. Half-closing her eyes, she began to sing along with the music.

_" 'So let me come to you... close as I want to be... close enough for me... to feel your heart beating fast...' " _ She sighed. "My mother used to sing that song to me when I was little. I memorized the words. _'Darling, so share with me... your love if you have enough... your tears if you're holding back... your pain if that's what it is... how can I let you know...' "_

"Rinoa," Squall started, then, unsure of what to say, stopped. _What is this I'm feeling?_ He shook his head. Then it came to him: Dyne. He _hated_ him. He didn't think he had ever hated anything before. Not even Seifer. Seifer had been his rival, opponent, enemy, even--but Squall had never hated him. _Seifer just did what he was forced to do. But, Dyne... has no excuse. None!_

_I can't... handle this._

He could see Rinoa approaching him from the corner of his eye, and he stiffened up. "No one blames you," she said.

_I know. Somehow, that just makes it worse._

"Am I interrupting anything?" asked a voice from behind them. Squall turned to look at Seifer, who was standing at the balcony's entrance. He had several stitches across his cheek. "I hope I'm not intruding. I never could resist a good bout of self-pity."

_Self-pity? Is that what this is?_ Squall straightened up. "Sorry. I think I'm done now."

"Ah, well," Seifer said, making a face. "Mind coming back to the rest of the world now?"

"...whatever," Squall said. _Never thought Seifer would be the one to snap me out of it, Squall thought. Of course, I never thought Seifer would be the one to rescue me, either. Seems he's gotten a lot more valuable all of a sudden._

Rinoa, smiling, latched onto him as well as she could with only one arm. "Come on," she said, dragging him towards the main room. Seifer fell into step beside him.

"I hate to say it, but I'm glad you're back. They put me in charge, you know that? Zell keeps giving me ugly looks, and I swear if I keep this up too much longer I'm going to wake up dead one day."

_Zell killing Seifer in the night? That... would be a sight to see,_ Squall thought, surprising himself with a small smile. Seifer turned to give him an odd look.

"Uh-oh," he said. "Rinoa, you picked the wrong one."

"What?" Rinoa asked.

Seifer stepped in front of Squall, miming drawing his gunblade and pointing it at Squall. "He's smiling. Who are you, and what happened to Squall?"

Squall almost sighed. "He went off the deep end in Fisherman's Horizon," he said. "Yelled something at Raijin and hasn't apologised _yet."_

Seifer gave a salute, a Galbadian salute instead of a SeeD one. "I'll relay the message," he said, grinning, and moved off.

_"EEYOW!"_

Squall looked over to where the yelp had come from, and saw Irvine hopping up and down on one leg. Fujin stood in front of him, arms crossed. "NOW, NO DANCE," she said tartly. "LEAVE."

_Irvine has finally done it,_ Squall thought. _I knew he was going to get himself hurt one of these days._

"I know he does that with every girl," Rinoa said from his side. "But... Fujin? Isn't that like trying to kiss a Marlboro?"

"You would think so," Squall said, watching Irvine grab his leg in pain. _I'm just surprised this hasn't happened sooner._

"Whoo, tough luck, ya know?" asked Raijin from behind Irvine, clapping a huge hand on his shoulder. "Fujin can be pretty scary sometimes, ya know?" he added in a quieter whisper.

"RAGE," Fujin snapped, her foot darting out and contacting Raijin's shin. The larger, burly man jumped, biting his lip. Squall couldn't help but wonder about the mismatched duo.

_Mismatched trio,_ he reminded himself, thinking of Seifer. _But Fujin is still the strangest of the bunch._

"So what are we going to do?" Rinoa asked. "Nida had a talk with Laguna, he said--" Rinoa paused to think. "I think he said something about how Esthar couldn't retaliate until the troops landed, due to their lack of ranged vessels from the period of silence or something. So it doesn't really matter when we get him back there, as long as its about seven hours before the troops are to land. That'll give him enough time. And tomorrow there _is_ the annual Balamb Fair..." She trailed off hopefully.

Squall turned to stare at Rinoa. _All this, and you want to go to a fair? A_ fair?_ I can honestly not believe this, even from you,_ he thought.

Rinoa playfully slapped him across the face. "Stop looking at me like that. As a matter of fact, Doctor Kadowaki has decided that if we can't get you to relax for at least a day, she's going to release sleeping gas into your room. And since Balamb is just nearby..."

"...but..."

"Ah! No 'but's! Those jackets were never ment to be taken off, you know, and we practically just ripped a plug out of your brain by doing it. You're probably a lot more tired than you'll admit, and even if you aren't, you still need rest."

"I have the feeling you've rehearsed this," Squall said, crossing his arms. Rinoa smiled.

"Seifer called it preparing my offensives."

_Seifer's in this too? ...dear god, it's a conspiracy._

"Yes, he knows," Rinoa said. "And he agrees. He thinks you're too serious for your own good. Or was that Irvine who said that? And it might have been Quistis, too, you know..."

Squall's hand moved to his forehead. "Do I get a choice in this?" he asked, wondering if there was any possible way to persuade them to give it up.

"No," Rinoa said, confirming his suspicions. "Anyway, everyone else wants a break, too. The last few days have been really hard on everyone."

"...fine," Squall said.

Rinoa practically beamed. "Oh, and..." she hesitated.

"What?" Squall asked. _Just hope she doesn't demand that I move into a beach house in Dollet or something._

"Could you maybe talk to Zell?" Rinoa asked. "He's been taking this entire thing with Seifer personally. Quistis is really worried about him, but she said that talking with people isn't really her strong suit."

_And it is mine?_ "...I'll try."

"Thanks," Rinoa said. "He's on one of the balconeys. Over there, I think," she said, pointing. "I'll let you alone with him." Giving Squall what he took to be an encouraging smile, she turned and walked off. Her bandage practically glowed in the ballroom lights, making him wince. Turning, he moved over to Zell.

Zell was in full uniform, hunched over the railing in what looked like an imitation of Squall's classic brooding pose, except his feet were stuck out so far behind him that he looked like the railing had chosen to move about a meter forward without telling him. He was staring down at the ring with a silence and a sulleness that was entirely unlike him.

"Seifer getting to you?" Squall asked bluntly. Zell jumped, spinning around.

"Whoa! Don't sneak up on me like that," he said, eyes narrowing. "What did you say?"

"Seifer's getting to you," Squall observed. Zell snorted.

"That's just gotten three nominations for the 'Understatement Of The Year Awards,' " Zell said.

"What did he do this time?"

Zell paused. "I guess it isn't something he actually _did_, but..."

"...that he's here."

Zell nodded. Stretching out his hands into an almost pleading gesture, he stared at Squall. "Man, you of all people should get this. _Why_ are you letting him back here? After all he's done?"

Squall crossed his arms, looking down at the floor to one side of him. "...because he saved my life, I guess."

"But this is Seifer we're talking about. We don't even know why he's really here. And no one else even _gives_ a damn!"

The last part was spoken so harshly that it echoed across the balcony. Squall shook his head.

"If Seifer had a hidden agenda, I think we would have realized it by now. I think he's actually sorry for what he did."

"Him? Sorry? He _can't_ be sorry. His egoate his conscience when he was about five."

_What am I supposed to say?_ "...maybe he's changed."

Zell shook his head. "I dunno. Something about it just doesn't ring right with me. I can't put my finger on it..." he made a fist. "But if I see anything going on here, I'll sure as hell put my glove on it."

"Fair enough," Squall said. "Just don't overdo it."

"No jumping at shadows, you mean? Don't worry. I'm looking for hard proof, and I'll get it. You just sit back and watch."

Squall nodded. _All right. And we'll all _hope_ you don't find anything._ Moving up to the railing, he glanced down. The ring was glowing in the night air, casting shadows on the ground below. It was a peaceful night. A peace Squall knew could not last.


	32. All Fun And Games

XII_  
"I would not for the wealth of all this town  
Here in my house do him disparagement.  
Therefor be patient, take no note of him.  
It is my will, the which if thou respect,  
_

_ Show a fair presence, and put off these frowns._  
_ An ill-beseeming semblance for a feast."_

_"It fits when such a villain is a guest.  
I'll not endure him."_

_"He shall be endured."  
--"Romeo and Juliet"_

* * *

Quistis stared across the ballroom floor, watching as Squall exited with Rinoa. For a moment she felt a pang of jealousy--almost anger--but it passed. _What right do I have to be mad at them for being happy?_ she demanded silently. Still, it smarted a bit to see how everyone else had some kind of--attatchment. She had her fan club, but they were, to tell the truth, a bit disturbing. They acted like she was a goddess instead of a normal human. She didn't know if she could take that in close quarters. 

So she was here, alone, watching as everyone seemed to be having a good time while she stood on the edge of the floor and smiled sweetly at anyone who actually looked her way.

"You look lonely," a voice said from beside her. She almost jumped when she looked over to see who it was--the trenchcoat was gleaming in the ballroom lights. And the red swords on the shoulders seemed almost foreboding.

Seifer himself had a pleasant expression on his face, as if he was simply another member of Garden wanting to check in with a friend.

"What?" Quistis asked, staring at him as if she was trying to figure out what he was up to. Of course, she was.

"I just thought you looked a bit lonely," Seifer said. "Came to cheer you up."

"Cheer me up?" Quistis practically spluttered. "_You_?"

Seifer frowned slightly. "I notice we seem to be the only ones not having a good time. Even Squall broke a smile back there," he said, motioning back towards the balcony.

"Then why don't you go have a good time," Quistis suggested, "and I'll just stay here."

Seifer actually sighed. "Have good time how? When the entire population is screaming for my blood?"

Quistis shook her head. "It's not that bad. I know, I've seen it. They're a bit upset, but as long as Squall doesn't kick you out they'll put up with it. They trust him."

"I only wish it wasn't so--obvious," Seifer said. "I feel like, well, an extra. An embellishment. Like I'm nice to have around, but I don't do anything useful." He gimaced painfully. "Except no one considers me nice to have around."

Quistis stared at him for a moment. _Since when have you cared?_ she wondered. "Seifer, just go away."

"I've been hearing that all day," Seifer said, face becoming grim. "I think I might have to. I fit in here about as well as... as a Gesper among Mesmerizes. I keep thinking that one of these days I'm gonna get sliced." He put a hand to the scar on his cheek, shaking his head. "It won't be long now, probably."

Quistis shook her head. "At least you fit in once. I never did. How many _normal_ people do you see walking around with fan clubs named after them?"

"I had my posse," Seifer said, voice almost a whisper. Quistis shook her head.

"They were your friends, not a group of gawking admirers. And--"

"We really shouldn't be talking about this," Seifer said.

"Uncomfortable?" Quistis asked, turning to stare at him. _Can't anyone just hear me out? I need to tell someone... I need someone else to understand... even if it is only Seifer._

"No, just..." Seifer paused, making a grand, sweeping motion to the sky and the dance. "Just the night is too nice to waste it moping around. Want to dance?"

"What?" Quistis did a double-take at Seifer, staring at him as if he had just suggested they go kill Zell.

Seifer shrugged. "You're the only one here who's both unattached and who hasn't tried to lynch me yet," he said. "Anyway, if you don't have some fun you're going to turn into Squall. One of him is enough, two would be hell."

Taken by surprise, Quistis laughed for a second. "Two Squalls?" she asked, risking a slight smile. "I don't think we could handle that."

"Neither do I," Seifer said. "Well, come on. It might be my last Festival here, might as well, uhm, live it up with the, mmph... prettiest... girl around." He grimaced. "I have no practice with this sort of thing."

Smiling in spite of herself, Quistis brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "I'll cover for you," she said.

"Great," Seifer said, extending a hand. Quistis, still a bit confused at the spontanious gesture of friendship, took it and allowed herself to be led out onto the dance floor.

_A fair. How did I get talked into this?_ Squall stared at the ceiling in his room, unable to sleep. _We have to figure out what to do about Dyne._

_The problem is, Dyne knows me. He's either been listening in on my thoughts for a very long time, or has read my mind and memories. Either way, he'll find me just as predictable as Quistis and Rinoa do. More, probably. So anything I do, he'll be able to anticipate._

Something nagged at the edge of his conciousness, but he pushed it away. Then, doing a mental double-take, he grasped at the idea.

_If Dyne knows me, and knows that I'm in charge, then he'll be able to anticipate me. But if I do something entirely unlike me... would that work? Would he be that off guard?_ Of course, there was a way to check that. _Do a bit of an experiment on my friends. And a fair? A fair might be the perfect way..._


	33. The Unexpected Always Occurs

XIII  
_ "All right! Let's hit that PAH-TAY!"  
--Selphie Timmett_

_"There comes a time for warriors to hang up their swords, generals to retire to their homes and their tamer pursuits. But those are times of peace, not war, and I say now that there is no reason to clamor for disarmament or pacifism. What reason can you claim to give up now?"  
--Mayor Dudley Rubach of Winhill, remark during the Sorceress War  
_

* * *

It was a beautiful day in Balamb. Many-colored streamers flew from countless tents lining the streets, and music and overpriced food odors wafted through the air. Clowns and moogle-costumed people pranced through the streets, making sure that everyone enjoyed themselves. 

Squall, of course, found it all a waste of time.

He had already bought a new chain for his meddalion--he didn't want that serpent carving anywhere near him. And a travelling weapons salesmen had been able to polish, sharpen and strenghthen his gunblade. Aside from that, there was very little of interest to him.

_Now, to buisiness._

He had thought about enlisting Zell's help in thinking up the experiment, but since Zell was going to be the guinea pig in this one, it wouldn't have worked very well. He had a fair idea of what he was going to do, anyway.

Moving over to one of the stands selling novelty items, he layed down about thirty gil for a huge, inflatable moogle. Putting the box into a paper bag, he made sure to tear off a substantial part of the corner. The bag _should_ be easily recognizable. Next, he went to find Zell.

As he had expected, Zell was standing in line for one of the many food stands. Tapping him on the shoulder, Squall waited for Zell to notice him.

"Hey," Zell said. "No dirt on Seifer yet, but... what's that?" he asked, looking at the bag.

"Nothing," Squall said, with a shrug. "I'm heading back to Balamb Garden. Tell Quistis."

"Okay," Zell said. "She'll probably come right after you and drag you back, but I'll tell her."

"Where's Irvine?" Squall asked. Zell grinned.

"Irvine and Seifer are working out a bet. Irvine seems to think that he can beat Seifer at the archery stand by the harbor. I was going to go watch, but I got hungry." Zell grinned even wider. "They have bets on the 'Test Your Strength' activity, the 'Duck Shoot' activity, and the 'Dunk a Geezard' booth, too. You should stick around--Irvine's gonna get smashed."

"I thought you were against Seifer?"

Zell shrugged. "Yeah, but face it--Irvine doesn't stand a chance. And he can be almost as annoying."

"Right," Squall said. _Seifer versus Irvine? That almost makes me want to stay._

_Almost._

"Well, see you around," Zell said, moving up in the line to order. "Yeah," he said, turning to the salesperson. "I'll have a hot dog..."

Getting into Zell's room was a lot easier than it probably should have been. Squall did have a skeleton key and override codes for the electronic locks, but Zell's door didn't even have both locks on. And the electronic one had all but one digit typed in--presumably so it wouldn't take Zell too long to unlock it.

Stepping into the room, Squall took a look around. Zell was an incredibly messy person--his field and dress uniforms lay on the floor in an undignified heap, and his bed was about as unmade as it could possibly be. Half of the matress was hanging off. The only thing that looked like it was even remotely taken care of was the punching bag, attached by a chain to the ceiling.

Squall moved over, inspecting the latch that held it on. Undoing it, he watched as the bag fell to the floor. Pulling out the moogle, he blew it up--making sure to leave the bag on the floor, torn edge showing. When the moogle was inflated, he hooked it onto the chain, grabbed the punching bag, and dragged it into the hall. He had taken almost three steps when something stopped him.

"What are you doing?"

Squall turned around to stare at Nida, who had come up behind him. _Uh... craap,_ he thought. _This might be a little hard to explain._

Nida walked up beside him, looking into Zell's room. "You replaced his punching bag with a novelty moogle?" he asked, confused.

"...don't ask," Squall said. Nida stared at him for a moment.

"Are you sure you're all right? You drank the punch at the festival, didn't you?"

"It's an experiment," Squall said.

"Umm... yeah. An experiment. I'm guessing you don't want me to tell anybody?"

_If I'm right, no one would listen if you _did_ tell them._ Squall nodded. Nida sighed.

"All right, but I get to see the look on his face when you say it was you, okay?"

"Fine," Squall said, beginning to drag the bag back to his room. Nida, with a final confused look, left.

Squall glanced at the door to the cafeteria for what had to be the thirtieth time in the last fifteen minutes. Nida, watching him with a look of amusement from the other side of the table, smiled.

"You keep staring at the door, you know that? Like your life depended on it. Waiting for Zell?"

Squall nodded. It was past time for dinner, but the people at the fair had gotten back late. And, as predicted, Quistis had been annoyed that he had skipped out. Apparently the Seifer-Irvine matchoffs had resulted in an overall tie, Seifer had won the 'Test Your Strength' and the 'Dunk a Geezard," but Irvine had won at both the booths involving range weapons. Hardly surprising. It must have been an interesting day.

Squall glanced at the door again, and almost jumped when Zell actually came storming in. He scanned the assembled people (Squall's team, basically, with the addition of Nida), and balled both fists. _"IRVINE!"_ he bellowed.

Irvine jumped almost ten centimeters in the air, turning to stare at Zell. "What?" he asked, going on the defensive almost at once.

"Give me my punching bag, you bastard son of a Buel!" Zell roared at him, taking a step forward. Nida had turned to watch, and was trying to keep a straight face. Glancing at Squall, he raised an eyebrow and drew a finger across his neck. Squall snorted.

"What are you talking about?" Irvine demanded.

"You _stole_ my punching bag, you idiot! And you replaced it with _this!"_

Zell threw a mangled peice of pink plastic at Irvine, who ducked it. "I didn't do anything!" Irvine yelled at him, scrambling away as Zell approached.

"_LIAR!"_ Zell yelled at him, swinging a fist through the air.

"Zell," Quistis said, jumping up. "Irvine was at the fair later than you were. It couldn't have been him!"

"Then _WHO THE HELL WAS IT?"_ Zell demanded loudly. Nida put a hand to his face to cover his mouth, and Zell rounded on him, eyes blazing. "YOU!"

"N-no," Nida said, shaking his head and trying not to laugh. Holding up a hand, he shook his head again. "Guess again."

Zell turned towards Irvine again. "I don't know how you did this, but I am going to _kill_ you if--"

_Amusing as this is, I had better put a stop to it,_ Squall thought. Standing up, he looked at Irvine, cowering in a corner. The light was glinting off of the barbed knuckles of Zell's gloves as he advanced. "Zell," he said, and the SeeD turned to look at him. "Leave Irvine alone. It wasn't him."

"How do you know?" Zell demanded.

"Because I took your punching bag," Squall said reasonably.

A look of complete blankness fell over his face. Nida fell to the floor, laughing and holding his sides.

"I have it in my room. You can have it back if you want it." Out of the corner of his eye Squall could see Irvine getting to his feet.

"You?" Zell asked, blinking. Squall nodded. "Why?" came the question, more confused than angry.

"It was an experiment," Squall explained, turning to the rest of the group. "You got a good look at that bag I was carrying, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah..." Zell said.

"And you saw it on the floor, right?"

"Yeah..."

"But you never guessed that it was me. Why not?"

Zell scratched the back of his head. "Beacuse, well, you're _you_, man!"

Squall nodded. "Exactly. You all find me so predictable, you never guessed that I would do something like that." Even though he said it matter-of-factly, his face darkened a bit. He didn't like to be reminded.

"So?"

"So Dyne knows almost everything about me, from the time I was in the Orphanage up until now. But he doesn't seem to know anything I don't remember, whick makes me think that he was reading my mind instead of watching me. Well," he looked around the gathering. "I'm not in the jacket anymore. He can't read my mind. But he'll still know what I plan to do, just because he knows all about me. He'll be able to predict me."

A look of understanding dawned on Zell's face. "Then how to we beat him? I mean, if he can predict what you'll do, then how are you going to get a plan that he won't know?"

"All we need to do is keep him away from Esthar," Squall said. "Once that threat is delt with, we should find a way to go up against him directly."

"And how're we gonna keep him out of Esthar?" Zell asked, crossing his arms.

_Simple,_ Squall thought. "Selphie?" he asked, turning to look at her.

"Yeah?"

_This feels... incredibly stupid. Oh, well._ "What's our plan?"

Selphie blinked at him. Then a slow smile began to spread across her face.

"Heeeeey...!"

Squall stepped into his room, forehead throbbing painfully. Selphie's plan--while having merit in the fact that it wasn't like Squall at _all,_ was (in Squall's opinion) rather lacking in one area: sanity.

_Quit complaining,_ Squall admonished himself. _You wanted something unpredictable, you have it. Now just try to figure out how to make it work._

_If only we could get our hands on about a hundred Ultima stones..._

Moving towards his bed, he paused, looking at the note laid on the bedside table. Picking it up hesitantly, he hoped it wasn't another gift from Dyne to take the place of the chain.

_Squall,_ it read. It was written in ink, in a hurried scrawl. _Meet me in the training center._

_Bring your gunblade._

Squall dropped the note. _Seifer_, he thought. It was late--almost eleven. A training bout? Squall shook his head, absently wondering how long it had been since the last one. Almost a year--or was it over a year? _Should I take up the invitation?_

It might as well have been a rhetorical question. The answer was already set: of course he would. Seifer was challenging him.

And Squall had never failed to answer a challenge.

Seifer stared at the carcass at his feet, growling. The Wendigo had given him a good run, but it had still died far too easily. And he had had a _really_ bad day.

_I need a better opponent,_ he thought. _One I can really test my skills against. One who will give me a good fight..._

"Seifer."

Seifer spun around, staring at Squall. The SeeD had come up behind him, almost noiselessly. His gunblade hung from his right hand, trailing the ground.

Seifer's hand clenched around his Hyperion, and he stared at Squall. "You came," he pointed out needlessly, eyes narrowing. Squall nodded. Seifer looked over Squall's shoulder at the door. "This'll be the last time, Squall," he said.

The tiniest hint of confusion flickered in Squall's eyes, but he masked it well. "Are you planning on killing me?"

"Not at all," Seifer said, gesturing with his gunblade. "Just a feeling. There isn't anything more after this."

Squall shook his head. _He's confused,_ Seifer thought. _Good for him._

Raising the Hyperion, Seifer moved into a fighting stance. "You ready for this?"

Squall nodded, raising his gunblade. Then, in a concious act of imitation, Seifer pulled his back into Squall's classic pose. _See what he makes of this._

"Have at!" he growled, charging the younger SeeD.

Squall ducked away with almost casual ease, turning to face Seifer as he charged past. Then he just stood there, waiting.

Seifer growled, swinging the gunblade in a tight arc. Again, Squall didn't seem to move as he parried it. The gunblade went flying, and Seifer stared at Squall.

"What are you waiting for?" he demanded. "Why aren't you doing anything?"

"I'm trying to see what you're up to," Squall said tonelessly.

"Don't you already know?" Seifer snapped, retreiving his blade. Squall shook his head, never taking his gaze off of Seifer. Seifer readied his offences, and charged with a flurry of blows. Squall's gunblade met his countless times, and Seifer never scored a hit. As he backed off, cursing, Squall said nothing, did nothing. It was enough to drive Seifer insane.

_"You're losing it, Seifer..."_

The words, flung at him from the deepest recesses of his memory, goaded him on to strike at Squall again. Squall sidestepped easily, and Seifer tripped on the trailing tip of his gunblade. Falling to the floor, he twisted and landed on his back. Squall had turned to look at him, no emotion showing in his eyes. Seifer got to his feet, breathing heavily more out of rage than exertion.

"What the _hell_ are you trying to prove, Squall?" he demanded.

"I'm not trying to prove anything," Squall said, resting the tip of his gunblade on the ground. "You?"

The question caught Seifer entirely off-guard.

"What makes you think I have anything to prove?" he snapped.

Squall only stared at him as if Seifer was being incredibly dense and he only had to wait a few moments for his opponent to finally figure it out.

Seifer extended his blade. "Fight, damn you!"

This time, Seifer took a different strategy. Making a feint towards Squall's side, he ducked in as Squall moved to parry it. Raising the sword for a downwards strike, he paused as the tip of Squall's blade suddenly appeared between his eyes. Slowly, he lowered the Hyperion to his side.

"Why are you doing this?" Squall asked.

"What?"

"You can fight better than this. I've seen you. Why are you holding back?"

Seifer snarled and lunged, but Squall only took a step back out of range. Seifer moved in with a spinning lower cut that could have sliced Squall's leg off, but Squall's gunblade seemed to materialize by his side as if by magic. The Hyperion clanged harmlessly off.

"I don't damn _know!"_ Seifer yelled. "Maybe..." Seifer stopped himself, winced, and turned away, stalking to the fence around the edge of the training center.

"What?" Squall's voice was almost gentle. Seifer shook his head.

"That day. After Ultimecia died. The Garden flew over Balamb. What were you thinking?"

Squall didn't respond for a moment. "I was thinking about how lucky we were. To still be alive."

"And you didn't know I was there? In Balamb? Watching?" Seifer didn't need to turn around to know that Squall had shaken his head. "I saw you. Saw the Garden. And I had the _gall_ to feel proud of you. Proud that you survived. That you did what I _never could!"_

Spinning, Seifer struck at Squall again. The next few seconds were a flurry of impossibly fast attacks and counterattacks, parries, thrusts, and lunges. When Seifer backed off again, he noticed that he had actually driven Squall back a few steps.

"Why?" Squall asked.

Seifer shook his head. "Once, just before my first SeeD cadet's exam, I came to the Training Center. I found a T-Rexaur, a baby one, newly hatched. They're still dangerous at that age, though--the thing was almost as big as I was."

Squall was silent, watching him. Seifer raised his head a bit, looking at the ceiling.

"So I figure, 'sure, why not?' I mean, it was a great way to test my skills without getting slaughtered. But it wasn't that easy." A faint smiled touched his lips. _Been a while... been forever since then. I can't believe I actually miss those days._ "But I made a bit of a misjudgement. See, older T-Rexaurs are really a lot less dangerous for people like us to handle. They're strong enough, all right, and they can take one hell of a punishment. But if you're quick enough, they can't even hit you. The smaller ones are a lot more agile."

Seifer paused. Squall, guessing that there had to be more to the story, let Seifer tell it at his own pace. Seifer looked at him, smile disappearing into a scornful frown.

"I spent over an hour fighting it," he confessed. "I didn't want to give up, because I would have to admit I was wrong. That I had picked too strong an enemy. Anyway, finally I got it down on the ground dying, and I was about to take the final stroke. But I couldn't. It had fought so hard, and I just couldn't make myself kill it. It was just a dumb animal--but I just couldn't kill something that was that good at staying alive. It would have been like the ultimate injustice. Like betrayal." As soon as he said it, he regretted it. Squall, however, didn't retort. "I can't explain it very well," Seifer finished. "But that's what it was like with you. Even though you were my enemy I was still proud. Still damn _proud_, even though I had no damn _reason_ to be."

Squall nodded. "I think I understand. After what's happened..." Squall trailed off.

_Good_, Seifer thought. _Don't open up. Stay like you always have been. That way you won't regret it later._ "We've never been closer, have we, Squall?" Seifer asked. "Now that you know what it feels like." Squall nodded, the tiniest movement. Seifer shook his head. "You're wrong. I'm nothing like you, Squall. It's too late for that. Too late to be brothers, like Raijin said we were. Even if I did save your gods-be-damned life, it doesn't change anything."

"What do you mean?" Squall asked.

Stepping backwards, Seifer took a second look at his opponent. "That's it," he said.

"What?"

Seifer drove the Hyperion into the ground. "All the proof I needed."

"Proof?" Squall blinked, and he frowned a bit. Confused again.

Bitterness infused Seifer's voice. "Proof that I'm the proverbial third wheel. The black sheep. I can remember that morning--that _fight_, Squall. A year ago." He ran a gloved hand down his scar. "As I recall, I beat you that day. You remember?"

"I spent four hours in the infirmary unconcious," Squall said tonelesly. "You got out earlier."

"I _beat_ you, Squall," Seifer said, sneer curling his lip. _"Last_ victory I've ever enjoyed. I fugure it isn't gonna get any better, so I'll just stop before it can get any worse."

"You're giving up?" Squall asked.

Seifer turned away. _My dream... my hopes... even my posse... everything went to you at the end. You call this giving up? You can't ask me to fight a hopless battle._ "Let's call it a tactical withdrawl."

"And Dyne?"

Seifer winced. _I wanted revenge. But Dyne hasn't done anything to me. Dyne was just the next best thing--I wanted _Ultimecia._ And you took that away too, didn't you, Squall?_ "That's your fight."

"Where will you go?"

Seifer turned back around. "I've always gotta be doing something big," he said, voice low. "I can't stop, so I'm just gonna keep running." _Not gonna stop until I reach the goal. And I'm sure as hell not sharing it with you._

_If there even is a goal anymore._

Squall paused, thinking. "That's your decision," he said. "If that's what you want to do, we can't stop you."

"And would you if you could?" Seifer asked. Squall didn't respond. Seifer moved a bit away, and turned towards Squall again. Extending his blade, he made a "come here" gesture with his free hand. "One more time, Squall," he said. "Once more for old time's sake. Make this a fight to end all fights."

Squall nodded, and raised his gunblade.

"En guarde," Seifer said, and charged.


	34. Into the Darkness

XIV_  
"Let's just fire like crazy and make a big hole, BOOM!"  
--Selphie Tilmitt_

* * *

The guard on the submersible's deck didn't even have time to flinch. 

He had just been standing watch, staring at the coastline of Esthar, when he heard the screams. Turning, he gaped at the massive, red-brown object hurtling towards them, skimming the water.

Then he was almost blown overboard as the Estharan warship buzzed the craft.

Of course, a second later none of it mattered anyway as nearly five hundred triggered Flare, Holy and Ultima stones dropped from the trailing stair ramp and turned the ship into a mass of flaming wreakage.

"_Booyaka_!" the word wafted over the floating flames, as the Ragnarok flew off into the distance. Soon enough, only the charred lower portions of Dyne's submersible were evidence that anything had happened there.

"_WHAT_!" Dyne roared, staring at his servant. The man tried to back away, but was held motionless by the jacket.

"The submersible has been crippled, Sire," he repeated. "It was not yet through the duckblind when the attack occured."

"And the other forces?" Dyne demanded, a look halfway between despiration and confusion in his eyes. "What about them?"

"They were intercepted by the main bulk of the Estharan army and overcome," the man said.

"No..." Dyne said, voice quavering. He moved over to the window of the hastily-made black structure--made of the same coral found around FH. "It can't be..."

"Sire?" the man asked, unnerved by Dyne's apparent attitude.

Dyne was actually shaking. "We will go to Centra," he murmured. "And I shall harness the power of the Crystal Pillar. Once I have, I will be the sole undisputed power in the world. I shall be a force to be reckoned with. And no one shall ever dispute my rule again..."

"Shall I order the ships prepared, my lord?" the man asked. Dyne nodded.

"I shall be... safe," he said. "Safe from all the world... forever..."

The man turned without questioning his leader--it was only rare that the bringer of bad news in the army would not be punished, and he didn't intend to push his luck.

"Safe..." Dyne whispered again, staring out the window at the depths of the sea outside.

Squall stared at the ceiling of his room, wondering if the plan they had concocted could possibly work. He had opted to stay behind at Garden so that, on the offchance that Dyne could tell where he was, he wouldn't endanger the mission. Still--it almost made him want to go along, just to make sure no one screwed up.

_fzzzt... "Members of Garden..."_

Squall sat bolt upright, listening to the voice on the intercom. It sounded like Nida.

_"SeeD was formed to combat the weilders of sorcery, should they become a threat to the world. At least, I... think that was the intent. And Garden was built to train SeeDs. So Garden's destiny and SeeDs mission are inextricably linked."_

Squall wondered what was going on. He recognized the style of the speech--it was a lot like the one he had given before they had gone into battle against Galbadia Garden a year ago.

_"Once again, we are faced with a threat of this nature. The Sorcerer, Dyne, is pretty much hell-bent on taking over the world or destroying it, at least." He paused dramatically. "That would be a bad thing."_

_What is he getting at?_ Squall wondered.

_"Anyway, Dyne's forces have been spotted moving towards Centra. As you all probably know, the Crystal Pillar is there. We're guessing he wants to use it for something."_

_This is a great way to find out about stuff,_ Squall thought sarcastically. _Why couldn't he just have told me to my face?_

_"So, anyway,"_ Nida continued, _"We're going to Centra. I think this will probably be the last time we have to face him. I could be wrong about that, though--we did have to fight Edea several times, and Ultimecia was just annoyi--"_

_"Give me that,"_ said another voice that Squall recognized as Xu. Slapping his forehead, he winced. _The Garden has been commandeered by Nida and Xu,_ the thought. _Why me?_

_"We are going to Centra to fight Dyne,"_ Xu stated. _"Oh, and one more thing. Seifer has been dropped off at Balamb. So if you would just _STOP PLACING ANTI-SEIFER POSTS ON THE GARDEN SQUARE,_ it would be appriciated. You know who you are. Thank you, that is all."_

Theree was a slight increase of the hum of the ring, and Squall glanced out the window. They were moving. The Balamb mountains were sliding away beside them. _We'll just hope they've radioed the Ragnarok to inform Quistis._ He considered that for a moment. _...on second thought, it might be a good idea to check._ Standing up, Squall headed for the doorway.

Seifer stood in the Balamb Mountains, on the same ledge where he had fought Squall that year ago. Watching Balamb Garden slide away in front of him, he was struck with a sudden, dark feeling. Not sadness, exactly--more like fatalism. It was as if he was watching his life glide away.

"We are alone, now," someone said behind him, and Seifer whirled. A huge, silver-black dragon was behind him, looking down at the Garden.

_Bahamut_.

"What are you doing here?" Seifer demanded, feeling for whatever reason completely normal adressing the great GF. Bahamut watched the Garden, something akin to sorrow in his eyes.

"We have both been outcast, each by our own choices. If I could undo the past, I would. But the past is permanent. It is the only thing that is."

"What?"

Bahamut turned to look at him. There was a deep pain in those eyes that no mere human could hope to understand. "I know what you are going to do," he said. "It is a noble purpose, and I wish I had your courage. But, if you would allow me, I would accompany you. I will bear you there, when this is your wish."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Seifer said, hand snaking towards his gunblade. Bahamut closed his eyes, shuddering breifly.

"You may not yet even know it, but I can see it in your eyes, in your stance. My friend, I must warn you. It is in your nature to fail. It shall be your undoing." Bahamut sighed. "The nature of a person is a harsh taskmaster. How can we go against nature? The moment we do, we become somthing other than ourselves, which in itself is a paradox. How can you not be you?"

Seifer shuddered involentarily. Something in what Bahamut was saying gave him the chills. "What are you saying?"

"They will never understand," Bahamut said, gesturing with an enourmous claw towards the Garden. "How can they? They have never had to walk these roads, never had to face what we must as needs be face." Bright eyes fixed on him. "What is a legacy, human? Is it that which you have _done_, or that which others _think_ of us? In thought or deed? By our actions or others? We are to be judged by those around us, and only then will we know what our legacy shall be." Bahamut gave a small, cold chuckle. "Perhaps redemption awaits even for us... two black sheep, each in our own right." The GF fell silent.

"What? What are you trying to say?" Seifer snorted, defensive sneer curling his lip. "Get away from me."

"We are more alike than appearences would tell, you and I," Bahamut murmured. "I sought to control my fellows so they would be safe, but found myself opposing them instead. Your motives were different, but the results were the same. We cannot go back, my comrade. The only place to go is forward--until we reach the end of the earth or until death puts an end to our wanderings. Which choice would _you_ make?"

Seifer's sneer increased. "You can go off and die if you want to, but I don't plan on it. I'll see you around." Turning back to the cliff, he watched the Garden move away.

"I see," Bahamut mused. "Within you lies potential. I have seen few others like you... brimming with passion... holding the true warrior's spirit. If it is possible to fight Dyne and win, it may be that you will do it."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Seifer said.

"Yet," continued Bahamut. "I now see many, many things. Human, I cannot tell the future, nor would I want to. My one view of the future has been dismal indeed." Even with his back turned, Seifer could feel the eyes of the GF boring into him. Involuntarily, he cringed. "Reality, human, is that which does not go away when you stop believing it. Think on that, if you will."

Without another word, Bahamut spread his wings and disappeared into the sky.


	35. Hell

XV  
_"When the trumpets call us all to judgement, the honored dead will look back upon this bloody day and say 'Aye, for there was no choice left.' Today we stand between the devil and the chasm. Do we fight, or do we fall?"  
--Centran magus Decus Horatius, Centran Sorceress War  
_

* * *

The clouds hung thick in the sky as they pulled onto the Centra continent, masking the pale sphere of the moon. The night was as dark as any Squall had ever seen, save the occasional lightning flashes that lit up the surrounding area. A faint drizzle was beginning to fall over the continent, misting the air. It seemed the perfect setting for such a battle as they would soon be taking part in. 

Oddly enough, standing on the bridge as the Garden slid forward, he didn't feel any fear Not even apprehension. Only a growing sense of loss... of what, however, he couldn't explain.

"The Crystal Pillar is coming into sight," Nida said, unusually subdued. "And there is one _large_ swarm of people there."

Squall took the binoculars Nida offered him, and looked at the black patch. There looked like there were almost eight hundred men there--less than a fraction of the forces Dyne had to begin with. All of them jacketed. _...all doing this with less of a choice than I had. How many innocents will have died before this is all over?_

"How close should we bring the Garden?" Nida asked. Squall shook his head.

"We may be too close as it is. We don't want them to see us." _A big, glowing blue building bearing down on them would be a bit conspicuous._ "We'll have to walk it from here."

Nida nodded, and made the appropriate announcements into the intercom. Turning to Squall, he smiled grimly. "This'll be the last time, huh?"

Squall stared at Nida. _"This'll be the last time, Squall..."_ "What did you say?"

Nida shrugged. "Can't imagine any place Dyne would rather take a final stand. I think we won't have to fight him again after this. You agree?"

_Oh..._ Squall shook his head. _I must be jumping at shadows,_ he thought with disgust. "Maybe."

Nida nodded. "Well, I'll have to get my blade," he said. "Don't let the fun start without me."

Squall nodded. "Meet by the entrance. We'll go after Dyne as soon as everyone's there."

Squall turned back to the horizon, staring at the black shape of the Crystal Pillar. _The equivalent of one hundred Ultimas to charge the armor--depending on circumstances, Demi can be signifigantly more powerful than Ultima. How much power will we have to face here? How many suits will be powered up? And what can they do when they are?_

The lift sunk behind him as Nida left, and Squall took a last glance at the army. Putting down the binoculars he had forgotten he had been holding, he waited for the lift to rise.

Rinoa looked up at the darkened sky, shuddering. A chill air whipped around the badlands, but aside from that it was eerily quiet. None of the gathering SeeDs made a sound as they stared off towards the army and the Crystal Pillar. Squall, even more withdrawn than usual, only stood and stared at some vague point on the ground in front of him as he waited for the appropriate time to give his orders.

"Maybe we should go," Rinoa whispered, almost afraid to break the silence. Wordlessly, Squall nodded. Looking off over the horizon, he blinked and shook his head.

"Dyne won't be in his castle this time," he said. "He'll be at the Crystal Pillar." _And where we find Dyne, we'll find Naja. And the rest of Dyne's slaves._

A figure approached from Squall's side, and without even turning his head he recognized it as Zell. "Should we go?" Zell asked quietly, adjusting his gloves edgily. Squall nodded.

"We'll go."

"A wise choice," rumbled something from behind him.

There were some gasps from the assembled SeeDs, and Squall turned to face the GF who had appeared behind him. Fur darker than the dust around them gleamed off a tall, over-muscular body, except for the patches of ember-red fur that gleamed from the far-off lightninglight.

Ifrit growled, facing the dark Pillar. "I was sent to bear you a message. Listen well, for I rarely speak to humans and I _never_ repeat myself for them." The GF straightened up, looking out across the horizon. "The message I was sent to relay is this: even now, the one you call Quezacotl is in conference with others of our kind. They understand the need and the risk, and will come with all haste. Until then, persevere."

A pillar of flame appeared around Ifrit, rotating hellishly. Soon enough it had burnt itself out, leaving empty space where the GF had been.

Squall nodded. _Looks like that's our cue._

Steeling his resolve, he turned to the SeeDs. "You've all heard the messages over the intercom," he said, "and you know what we'll be facing. Dyne is at the Pillar, along with Naja and the army they control. We have no way of measuring their strength, so prepare for the worst."

The SeeDs glanced at each other, each one trying to ready themself for the battle. They were nervous--for good reason, Squall could say. This would be no normal fight; this would be an all-out battle--army against army--that, if not properly executed, could become a massacre.

A hand touched his arm, and Squall glanced at Rinoa. "Talk to them," she said softy. "Reassure them. They need to hear something from you."

Squall nodded, taking another breath. Truth be told, he had never become comfortable with motivational speeches, and he doubted that he ever would. However, if it meant that much, he could at least try. Closing his eyes for a brief moment, he began.

"I know that things might look bleak," he said awkwardly, "and I can't blame you if you're nervous or even scared. We can't understand Dyne... which is why we're going to fight tonight. Dyne is insane--he's fighting a war that only he thinks is necessary, and he has the power to wage it to completion. But--" he could see some of the SeeDs glancing at each other, looks of despair and resignation on their faces, "that's exactly why we're here."

Rinoa gave him an encouraging smile as he faltered, and he tried to form his thoughts into words.

"SeeD was originally created to fight the Sorceresses in the capacity of guardians. Now, the world is threatened by sorcery, and it's our duty to defend it. And if defending it can only be accomplished through killing Dyne, then that's what we need to do. And the Powers--" _--powers? No, only the Forces--_ "--are on our side. We have allies which Dyne cannot counter. We have trained to defeat sorcery, and we have seen the results of that training.  
"A year ago, we faced a threat thousands of times more dire. We succeeded where some thought no one could. We have repelled attacks from Dyne's army in the heart of our Garden, and we have bested him in confrontation after confrontation. Now we're fighting on his turf, but that shouldn't worry us. As long as we fight with our skill and our conviction, we'll win.  
"The battle is going to be hard. I won't lie about that. But we can win it. ...make yourselves proud tonight. I don't want anyone going home with regrets."

There was a subdued cheer from the SeeDs, and Squall turned away. Rinoa mouthed the words "Thank you," at him, and he would have tried to smile if he had been in a state of mind to think about that sort of thing. Looking away from her, he began on his way toward the battle.

As soon as he took the first step a cold, bleak hand seemed to close around his heart. He felt as if he was walking towards an execution, not a battle, and he knew that he couldn't do anything to prevent it.

_We have one possilbe way to end this without massive or total loss of life,_ he thought grimly. _Kill Naja. Without his control the jacketed men will turn against Dyne. Otherwise, I'm leading a small group of special forces into a huge army of grunts._

_Against a normal army we'd be okay in, well, even up to eight-to-one odds, I think. But this isn't a normal army. They all have the skill of a GF. It took Bahamut, Nida, Rinoa, Diablos, Sacred, Minotaur _and_ Seifer to bring me down. How can I possibly expect them to fight against forces that can--what is that?_

There was a flash of yellow to one side, and Squall snapped his head around to stare at it. He could see nothing more than a dim reflection of light off the rocks, however, so he turned back to the pillar. _Trick of the lightning, I guess._ He shook his head. _What was I thinking_?

A thought rudely intruded on his mind, and he snatched at it. He hoped that it would be more pleasant than considering their odds, but luck didn't seem to be on his side.

_...Seifer. About Seifer. I..._

_...miss him? Why?_

The answer came back at him with such force he actually faltered in his step. _Because he was the only one enough like me that I could have considered a friend._

_Seifer as a friend?_ he shoved the idea away. _Well, it's about as likely as Laguna as a... father,_ he thought, then took a split second to wonder where, in fact, Laguna had gotten off to. _I think he said something about going back to Esthar... did he? Who knows. I just wish--_

"You have come." The voice rolled across the badlands like an echo of the distant thunder, and the entire SeeD force pulled up short. _Get ready,_ Squall thought breifly. _It's going to be hell from here on out._

Looking up, Squall saw Dyne silhouetted against the massive pillar. He looked, in that moment, less of a human than some sort of wraith, seemingly fragile, but very powerful. Squall drew his gunblade.

"You should not have come, Leonhart," came Dyne's voice, tired, but taunting. "Do you not know that I could crush your puny force beneath my heel?"

_I made my descision,_ Squall thought. _I don't regret it. ...yet._

"But you _shall_ regret it, my friend. Are you prepared to lose everything?"

_I always have been._

Dyne sighed, a sound that seemed to be amplified by the Crystal Pillar into the hissing winds. "Then I guess it is time for you to die."

_Not yet. And if I have to, I'll take you with me._

_We're ready for you, Dyne._

"It bringsssss back memoriesssss, doessss it not?" came a voice from behind them. Squall turned sharply to see Naja slithering up on the party. Involentarily, the SeeDs backed up. "Your ssssoulsssss sssshall regret this day forever, young foolsssss. You have come to combat forcesssss you cannot comprehend." The GF stopped for a moment, and when he began again his voice was much crisper. "You will die here, perhaps by my doing. Fool! You should have killed me when you had the chance. Now we will both suffer greatly before our spirits fly."

Dyne laughed, speaking in a voice that was as patronizing as any Squall had ever heard. "My faithless _pet_. Soon enough you shall see the culmination of your master's designs. But first I shall show you something, my friend." Dyne's slim figure departed itself from the army, strolling leasurely to about halfway down the giant hill and looking at the SeeDs at the base. "While you were busy, each with your own plans to overthrow me, I have found something interesting. You see, the Centra continent is vast and ancient. Nothing remains of it above ground save the Ruins in which the GF Odin once resided. ...where is he now, by the way? Killed? So I hear." Dyne gave a barking, mirthless laugh.

Squall didn't move as Naja slithered past him, close enough to strike at with the gunblade. The GF gave him a final, peircing look in the eyes that seemed to tear through his entire soul, then turned and moved to join Dyne's troops. Squall noticed a figure, robed and hooded, forcing his way through the armored men. He took a moment to wonder who it was before listening to Dyne again.

"...a bank of such devices that have never recently been seen in this world," Dyne was saying. "And with them, I was able to create the ultimate troop." He laughed again, throwing back his head. "You think, Naja, that it is with your powers that I have been able to secure myself in this world. But you are wrong! You are only a component, my fine, scaled friend. Witness the true power of this god-forsaken land!" He laughed harder, a laugh that was not entirely sane. The SeeD party backed up a bit.

The hooded figure struggled towards Dyne, as if fighting against a strong current. Finally it knelt by his side, and Dyne placed a hand on its back.

"Rise, my servant," he said. The figure rose, shedding the hood as it did. Squall actually stagged backwards as he saw the creature...

It was a Shumi.

And in one hand it clenched a bright, gleaming orb.

"Behold," Dyne said with an elaborate flourish. Tilting back his head, he began laughing. The shadowed legions behind him laughed as well, a forced laugh, a jacketed laugh. It rasped across the landscape like a rotten wind.

The sight that Squall saw then turned his stomach, and increased the hate-fires burning within him. The Shumi, defiled by Dyne's power--a power that understood the power of the evolution the Shumi's went through, and controlled it...

Guard brought the orb to his forehead, struggling in Dyne's grasp, which was not as sure as Naja's. A detonation of silent power exploded across the field, and Squall tried to close his eyes as light assailed him. The form of the Shumi twisted and changed, melding with the black robe and growing into a pillar like the incarnation of rage--a gargantuan, serpentine dragon whose eyes blazed with unholy power. Power that should never have been brought fourth, but had.

Squall drew his gunblade as Dyne laughed, moving backwards up the hill. "Now do you see?" he asked. "You have come hunting me, SeeD, but I have become the hunter, and I can set my dogs on you with ease. Back away, and never seek to challenge me again."

Squall tightened his grip on the gunblade. Glancing at "his" troops out of the corner of his eye, he saw expressions ranging from outright nausia to rage. _There's no turning back now, not after they've seen this..._

Which meant, of course, that there was only one choice.

"Charge," he ordered from between gritted teeth.


	36. Infelix

**Author's Note:  
**"Infelix" is Latin for "Unlucky."

XVI_  
"We few, we happy few, we brothers  
For he today that sheds his blood with me  
Shall be my brother..."  
--"Henry V"_

* * *

The last thing Squall saw clearly was Dyne's army thundering down the hillside like a great, black avalanche. The thundering of their feet, flashes of lightning slowly approaching, the first sounds of the clash... then he was engaged in his own battle as the army engulfed him.

The blade he held seemed to sing through the air, slicing, blocking, thrusting, sometimes finding its target, rarely not. It scraped across the armor and was wedged in the cracks at the joints, only to be yanked free and driven through faceplates and breatplates with equal ease. Sustained by fire more potent than any Berserk spell, Squall fought toward Dyne. Naja, rearing next to the Crystal Pillar, was forgotten.

Time passed, that he knew--as to how much he was uncertain. The chaos around him never lessened--he might have spent minutes or hours fighting. He was aware, dimly, of SeeDs falling and rising again, some falling and staying down. The army kept coming--thousands of men who had been forced to fight against their would-be rescuers. On occasion there would be a concussion of light and energy as Dyne detonated one of the suits, or a blinding flash as the energy in one was released in a more controlled fashion. Invariably when one of these things happened, one or more of the combatants would fall and not arise.

And the only indication that any time at all had passed was the thunderstorm, once distant but now raging directly overhead, pelting the scene below with torrents of cold water and lightning whch struck the Crystal Pillar and reflected off its surface as dark streams of energy in turn striking the ground.

Something hard rammed into Squall from the side, and he tumbled into the damp dirt. A huge, black form reared over him--the dragon. Roaring, it swept its streamlined head down to consume him--

Squall swung the blade up, lodging the tip in the top of the thing's mouth and pulling the trigger. Bullets flew into its brain but--wounded yet not defeated--it pulled up. A black ichor flowed from the holes made by the gunblade hits and bullets.

Massive claws came down on the ground next to him with such force that the damp dirt actually splintered, sending sharp rocks leaping around him.

_"PAIN pain pain shame,"_ it hissed directly into Squall's mind as it sent him tumbling with a casual sweep of its arm. The voice was low, but smooth. It was as if a Shumi had turned evil--which was, essentialy, what had happened. With a swift cut, Squall gouged a deep slash into its wrist.

_Dammit--Dyne, you have to corrupt everything, don't you?_ he cursed silently. The Shumi-dragon roared, and the massive jaws came down again. A foot came down on Squall as he struggled to his feet, and the jaws came down again--

_"It was never meant to be..."_

The mind-voice was different: Quezacotl. Infused with sadness, and regret. The GF had appeared behind the dragon, causing it to look around with a glint that resembled releif in its eyes.

_"May the cosmos forgive me for my inaction, my friend,"_ the GF continued, lightning beginning to play along his form. _"We had never belived that such a thing as the rediscovery of the Centran powers would come to pass. Some things were meant to be buried forever."_

The lightning leaped off of Quezacotl, surrounding the dragon with power. The thing roared, convulsing enough to send pain through Squall's ribs as the foot dragged across them. Quezacotl disappeared, leaving Squall to stare at the still-twitching corpse.

Taking a look around, he saw that the battle was slowly turning in their favor. "Their" GFs had joined in the fight, along with several Squall had never seen before. Together, the SeeDs and the GFs were pushing Dyne's forces back!

Squall jumped to his feet, rasing his gunblade to give a crushing blow to the skull of one of the soldiers in front of him. Struggling up the hillside--which by now was almost literally a pile of mud--Squall ignored the rain pelting him and the lightning striking the Pillar just ahead. He could see Dyne, standing near the pillar, watching the proceedings with what looked like panic in his eyes. The path to him was open...

"No!" Dyne yelled, fear making his voice tremble. "It can't be!"

There was a dry, hissing laugh from Naja, who was standing beside him. Squall, slipping in the mud, missed what the GF said, but could hear Dyne's retort clearly through the peal of thunder.

"I cannot lose. Not _now!"_

Squall narrowed his eyes as a shift in the wind sent rain driving into them. Dyne was so close. _Revenge_ was so close.

Dyne turned to him, masamune appearing in his hand. "Why?" he asked, almost pleadingly. "Why must you challenge me?"

_Because if I don't, you'll continue as you have. The world will fall under your yolk._

_...that isn't the entire reason._

Dyne stepped backwards so that he almost bumped into the swirling vortex of energy at his back. Squall looked at it critically--if he could just push Dyne into the Pillar, he would be dead. Naja would be free. The troops would stop fighting, and...

Making up his mind, Squall charged. Dyne was ready for him, and their blades met in a shower of sparks.

The world faded out of his view, and suddenly Dyne and the blade clenched in his hands were all that mattered. He knew that no one would think to disturb this fight--it was the battle that might well win or lose the war.

The blades danced around each other, faster than the eye could trace. Sparks flew as the metal clashed, disappearing in the wet air. Squall swung the blade at Dyne's midsection, but a lightning-fast parry saved the sorcerer at the last instant. The masamune hissed like an angry serpent through the air in front of Squall, and he jumped back in time to avoid having his head sliced in two. Feinting with the gunblade, he stepped in for a lethal thrust--

--the masamune slammed into the gunblade point-first, skipping on the metal and lodging several centimeters of its length in Squall's arm. Disregarding the pain, Squall yanked his arm away. The masamune tugged Dyne offbalance for a single second, and Squall brought the gunblade down fast. Dyne rolled away, abandoning his weapon as it fell to the ground to be trampled into the mud. Getting to his feet, covered in mud, Dyne looked... almost pitiable.

_...deja vu,_ Squall thought. The look in Dyne's eyes, however--

_--what is he doing?_ Squall wondered as Dyne held out both hands towards him. Then, in an instant, he found himself lifted into the air and literally _thrown_ off the hill.

Air rushed by him as he fell, and he could see the ground approaching. Powerful winds buffeted him, drawing him back upwards as rain and black lightning assaulted him. He dropped his gunblade somewhere, as he was ripped at by all the fury of the Aero element.

_Then_ he fell.

Half-dazed, he could see the ground coming up at him. Fast. Mud had never looked so hard...

_Damn,_ he thought, trying to twist so he wouldn't land on his face. This _is going to hurt..._

The breath was driven out of him as he rammed into the hillside, and he almost choked on a mouthful of mud. Pulling himself up, he struggled to his feet again, head ringing, but marveling that nothing was broken. He had landed at the base of the hill, and could still see up to Dyne. The gunblade, almost entirely buried, was nearby.

_...what? What is he doing...?_

Dyne stood at the peak of the hill, looking down at Squall. Raising a hand, he beconed to Naja.

"How long did you expect this would last, Leonhart?" Dyne shouted through the storm. "You knew it wouldn't be easy. I wonder, however, if you had any conception of what you would be facing here?"

_This can't be good,_ Squall thought, struggling to his gunblade. The hill was actually beginning to slide downward in the constant rain--an avalance of mud.

Dyne was laughing again. It echoed eerily in the air. "I have come to this place for a reason. Witness the creation of a God, my friend."

Squall gripped his gunblade, watching Dyne. Naja, convulsing suddenly, tried to pull away.

"No!" he hissed, looking at Dyne with terror in his eyes. A cold hand seemed to close around Squall's chest--he had a bad, _bad_ feeling about this, somehow--even above and beyind the obvious reasons.

"I will junction myself to Naja," Dyne declared, pulling the GF towards him with the strength of his mind alone. "While I junction _him_ to _me..."_

_What?_ Squall tried to move up the hill, but something pushed him back. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the GFs disappearing from the battle--fleeing.

_"No!" _Naja hissed, struggling against Dyne's pull with superhuman effort. "No! You cannot--"

Dyne laughed harder, the infernal light at his back making him look like some sort of demon. "The power of the Crystal Pillar shall unite us," he said. "We shall be one mind, together ruling all we see! Come! You know you crave the power. _Come!"_

Naja struggled, heaving and thrashing. Squall, unable to do anything, could only watch as Dyne forced Naja into the vortex surrounding the Crystal Pillar--then stepped in himself.

There was a concussion of unimaginable energy, and Squall looked up to see the impossible. Standing in front of the pillar, rearing, was an abomination--a thing with Dyne's torso, head and arms, but a black snake from the waist down. Something flashed in Squall's mind--a breif flash of recognition--and then everything went silent on the battlefield. Dyne's troops simply stopped what they were doing, becoming as motionless as statues.

"They hate me," Dyne murmured, sounding surprised... as if he was a child who had just learned something he couldn't believe. "All of them. They hate me."

Squall planted (or, more accurately, squelched) a foot down in front of him, pulling himself up towards Dyne. The... the _thing_ Dyne had become turned slowly towards him, a look of incredulous shock on his face. "They hate me, and they want to kill me. Even I wanted to... no, even _Naja_ wanted to... no... what has he--what have _I_ done? _...no!"_

Squall slipped in the mud, almost falling. Doggedly, he tried to move towards his opponent.

_"What have I done?"_ Dyne bellowed. "...no! It wasn't me! It was..." The figure convulsed.

_He's going insane?_ Squall wondered. _Maybe melding with Naja wasn't such a good idea. But it will give me time to kill him._

_"NO!_ Stop it! You'll never get me to... I have to survive! Stop it. _Stop it!"_

_Survive?_ Squall shook his head silenty, struggling another few steps upwards. Then he stopped.

_What am I doing?_

_...revenge?_

_What's... happened to me...?_

_"Lammers!_ Damn you!" Dyne roared, looking across the field. His eyes held no trace of sanity. _"Damn you!"_

_I can't do this,_ Squall thought. _Not if it's just because I want revenge. I can't... I can't become someone like that._

"I will _damn you all!"_ Dyne ranted, stretching out a hand. Almost in unison, the soldiers dropped their weapons and moved towards Dyne. Emotions ranging from fear to abject terror warred in their eyes.

_What is he doing?_ Squall wondered, looking up at Dyne. Then, as the first soldier was forced into the Pillar with a soulrending scream, Squall realized. Dyne had felt the hatred Naja had harbored for him, and was threatened by it. And to protect himself from the troops he already controlled fully, he was going to kill them all. Take hundreds of innocent lives.

_No..._

Squall stared at him. He was afraid--afraid to kill him, but afraid of the consequences if he didn't. He didn't want to become someone who killed without thinking, for reasons like revenge. But he knew that if he didn't stop Dyne, the entire army would die.

There was a noise. Rinoa--begging him to do something.

_I can't make this kind of a choice..._

Then, like a gift from the gods, a figure seemed to materialize out of the rain near the crest of the hill. As it stood up, slowly, the white trenchcoat fell down around it in folds, more capelike than coatlike, billowing in the wind. A silver blade gleamed in its hand.

_...Seifer._


	37. Deus Ex Machina

XVII_  
"You must fight to the end, even though it may bring tragedy to others."  
__--Edea_

* * *

Even Dyne stopped to stare at the intruder, a look of horror mixed with contempt shining in his eyes. Seifer looked around slowly, taking in everything around him. Squall couldn't see very well from where he was standing, but it looked as if Seifer's jaw tightened when he saw the carnage. "Is this it, then?" he asked nobody. "You dragged me out _here_?" 

"My comrade," came a deep voice that seemed to shake the earth itself. "My kind have fled in despair. Yours are withdrawing as we speak. Neither could have combated this. It is fitting that we must."

Squall looked around. Evedently, it was true: the SeeDs were retreating, many bearing bodies. No one noticed the few stragglers who kept fighting. Or the dead, who were being slowly buried in the great mudflow.

Seifer lifted his blade. "Well, then. Don't suppose we should get to it?"

Dyne, trembling, backed up so that the tip of his tail was actually inside the vortex. Reaching a hand in as well, he waited as a black sheen began to form inside the Pillar. Pulling his hand out again, Squall was surprised to see a black sword almost exactly like the masamune, constructed out of the same material as the erstwhile Lieutenant's staff. Seifer, extending his arm into his classical fighting stance, faced Dyne squarely.

Dyne charged, and for a second everything was lit up by a flash of lightning. Squall watched, unable to move, as Seifer and Dyne fought. There was something familiar about the whole scene...

...realization hit him like a blow to the heart. _My dream..._ his dream had happened here. And he had been Seifer. Seifer, talking aobut something that Squall couldn't understand. Two dreams, really--the one on the Horizon Bridge and the one from which he had awaken, screaming. Which meant--

_--which means something terrible is going to happen--_

Hardly knowing what he was doing, Squall took the gunblade and tried to run up the hill. But the mud was slick--the faster he tried to go, the further he slid downwards.

Seifer was fighting Dyne well, showing all the skill he ever had. Feint, parry, thrust, parry, parry, thrust--he ducked in as Dyne raised the Masamune, scraping the Hyperion along the black scales. Sparks actually few as Dyne slid backwards, so that his shoulders and back were inside the vortex. Looking around, silver hair whipping through the air, Dyne realized how close he was to being wiped out of existance. _"NO!"_

Seifer raised his gunblade, poised to strike the killing blow--

The Masamune cut downwards, striking Seifer across the neck. Seifer fell backwards, landing on his back in the muck. He shuddered, sliding downwards.

_No,_ Squall thought.

A blue-green halo of light surrounded him as Seifer cast a Curaga spell on himself, struggling to his feet. The wound didn't heal, though--it stayed, oozing blood. Drawing the back of his hand across the gash, Seifer stared at the red liquid. Squall, pulling himself out of the mire, tried to move towards him. A blast of strong wind caught him, and he slid down the hill several meters. Looking up again, he saw Seifer falling forward to land in the mud. Faint trickles of blood were beginning to wash down in the mire.

Somehow, Seifer got up again. Clamping a hand to his throat in an effort to staunch the wound, he took a step forward. The Hyperion was clenched in one hand, ready.

_He can't possibly--_ Squall thought, as Dyne slithered forward a couple of meters. His tailtip was still inside the pillar, flicking spasmodically. He lifted his bade in his hands, watching as it exploded into a concussion of magical energy that caught Seifer full in the chest and sent him flying backwards to land almost halfway down the hill.

"I will never yeild," Dyne hissed, stretching out his hand ans watching energy wreath around it. The same energy began to wind around his tail, advancing up the pillar of scaled muscle. "You shall die here, interloper."

Squall watched, unable to do anything, as Seifer struggled upwards in the mud. Suddenly, he slumped over.

_No..._

The power began to crawl over every inch of Dyne's frame, a glowing shield that couldn't be penetrated. He weilded the power as if he was born soley to do so.

"This is where you watch your friends and comrades slain," Dyne said, putting both arms out by his sides. "And then there shall be no one to threaten me, ever, _ever_ again."

"Sorry, but you're wrong," Seifer said. He sounded as if he was choking on his own blood.

"Fool." The voice rasped out of the shell Dyne had made around himself. "You cannot kill me without a price I do not believe you wish to pay. I am a _power_, and in this world what power is there to combat me? I shall live until the stars themselves die."

Seifer opened his mouth to say something, but a noise from above stopped him. It was a voice, deep and rich, but infused with some great sadness Squall couldn't begin to comprehend. Dyne halted abruptly, staring up at the clouds as if he saw impending doom written in their darkness.

"This is the need which has forced me to bring you to this desolate land," Bahamut said. "I regret deeply that we must do this. It should never have happened. And Naja... my comrade in the days of ancience, I am sorry. Had I been less of a coward, I would have aided you." There was a pause. "I am no Guardian. I am a force, but I could never fufill my purpose. And for that, I am sorry. And because of that, I am ready."

"Well," Seifer said. "Let's--go."

"Let us. Gone from this world, but--"

"Hey!" There was a pause. "I don't plan on... d... dying here."

Dyne was actually shuddering.

Laughter from above. "Then plan to survive. Just as I am sure you planned to catch many fish at Balamb."

"...shut up."

There was a chuckle. "Ah, my comrade, we have come at last to the end of our journey. And who can say? Perhaps we shall be remembered in spite of all."

"This is it, then," Seifer said. "Funny. Never expected it to t... turn out this way." He coughed, and blood dripped to the ground.

The light surrounding Dyne faded breifly, then solidified into a bright, silver shell. Dyne was motionless inside it, as if he was afraid that by moving the shell would be broken.

Bahamut sighed. "I shall open the way, my friend. I wish I had your strength, but it would not have mattered. It shall be you who must complete this deed."

"I've been looking forward to it all week," Seifer said with a sort of dry, morbid humor. Dyne was staring about himself as if he couldn't believe where he was. Then he was shaking his head, trying to deny the whole thing. The barrier around him fluxated wildly with his movements.

"No," he whispered. "Please..."

"My friend," Bahamut laughed. "On occasion, death is only the beginning."

"Beginning?" there was an edge of fear to Seifer's voice, but he was evidently disregarding it. Fighting his way through it, and winning. "I doubt it."

"Then prepare for the end, my final comrade," Bahamut said, his voice seeming to increase in conviction as well as volume. There was a flash of light from above, and the dark form of Bahamut plunged through the lightning-split clouds, straight towards Dyne himself.

There was a roar as the GF rammed into the barrier surrounding the sorcerer, and a scream from Dyne. The GF was burnt into nothing but ash as power flowed into him form the Crystal Pillar, and the sorcerer staggered backwards as well as he could for a creature with no legs.

Dyne was only centimeters away from the Crystal Pillar, and offbalance as well. Within a second Squall, Seifer and Dyne had all realized that it would be easy enough to kill him--a simple, childish push, and he would fall into the Pillar. A simple shove, bloodless and easy...

Seifer stepped forward. An irrational thrill of hope flashed through Squall.

Dyne thought quickly. Within moments a new black blade had formed from within the swirling energies, and he raised it menacingly. But not to strike--he held it as if it was nothing more than a giant throwing knife.

In the same motion he turned, pointing it directly at Squall.

"He dies if you move," Dyne hissed, voice shaking. Seifer froze, turning to stare down at Squall. Squall himself was frozen in place like a rabbit staring up at a hawk.

Seifer took a single, staggering step forward. _So close..._

Dyne drew his arm back.

Squall's mind was racing. _Seifer isn't going to survive any time at all with that cut unless we can get him to the infirmary,_ he thought. _Which means we have to end this--one way or the other--now._

There was a slight flicker in Dyne's eyes, somehow visible from where Squall was standing despite the rain and darkness. Dyne's wrist angled backwards the tiniest bit--

An instant too late, Squall saw what was going to happen. _God--_ he thought. _He's going to kill me anyway. And by the time Seifer gets over his surprise Dyne will be ready to kill him too..._

And there was no way to warn him in time. Knowing full well that he was too late already, Squall opened his mouth to yell at Seifer--tell him to kill Dyne, forget about him, so at least _one_ of them would survive--

--faster than the eye could trace, Dyne's arm drew back and launched the blade forward. It traced its way through the air--

--an instant sooner, Seifer steeled himself and lept forward--

There was a silent collision as the two met, the black material sprouting from Seifer's back like some obscene weed. Before the blood could even begin to stain his coat his momentum had carried him on into Dyne--throwing them both into the raging storm of the Crystal Pillar itself.

_"No!"_ The scream ripped across the landscape, the epitome of pain and terror itself. Dyne's voice throbbed in the night air, only amplified by the raging pillar that consumed him.

_"NO!"_ The yell tore itself out of Squall's throat, and he tried to scramble upwards. Slipping and falling countless times, he struggled up the hill.

The tip of the Crystal Pillar shook, splintering. Soon it was nothing but a falling hail of silvery-clear shards, tearing at him like thousands of falling knives. Squall, bleeding from this new, implacable assault, struggled through mud that reached almost up to his knees. Wind tugged at him as if it was trying to throw him off the edge of the world. He put it all out of his mind.

Then he saw the bodies.

Dyne was twisted in pain, eyes open wide, staring into the darkness. But Seifer's eyes were closed, face set in a shallow grimace that was the closest thing to true peace Squall had ever seen on him.

But that didn't matter.

What mattered was that Seifer was _dead_, and that Squall had no idea why it hurt so much.

_Phoenix Down. Full-Life. Anything..._ Even as he racked his brain for something he could use, he knew it was hopeless. Phoenix Down could wake someone up from unconciousness, Full-Life could heal injuries as well. But nothing, _nothing_ could bring back someone who was dead.

_You reached the goal, Seifer,_ Squall thought as a chunk of the Pillar rammed into the side of his head, driving him into the ground. Mud filled his nostrils, and he pulled himself upwards to snort it out. Someting warm and sticky was flowing down his face--blood. It was washed away almost as soon as it appeared. _You've done something big. But... but why now? Why, just when I was learning to accept you?_

_And why death?_

He could find no answer as the main bulk of the Pillar shattered, hitting him with unimaginable power--power that engulfed him, swirling around him like a holocaust.

Then, there was nothing.


	38. Epitaph

XVIII 

_The man is dead, his sword is fallen on the grass  
and his brother on his knees beside him.  
For days when they pass strangers will wonder at his gravestone,  
and then for centuries after they will wonder no more.  
--Centran eulogy, unknown author  
_

* * *

First there were images. Of Seifer. Seifer fighting, Seifer smiling, Seifer laughing. In the one, short year he had been away from Garden, he seemed to have had fun. Real fun--and real joy. Watching Fujin and Raijin, possibly the most mismatched duo in the universe; learning, slowly, to take joy in the little things that Squall had never seemed to notice. 

Then Siefer alarmed, hearing the news of the invasion coming to FH. Seifer fighting, Seifer hiding and watching, saving Squall. And the quest that followed, Seifer's pain and confusion on the bridge, the deep shame of what he had done to Squall in Galbadia. The hope when he saw the Ragnarok, how trying not to show weakness to the crew and wishing they would accept him almost tore him apart inside. Dark feelings when Squall had pulled his trick underneath Dyne's castle, the surprise he had felt when the crew made him their leader. The conflict he waged with himself, always. Guilt, pain, and the wish for redemption clashing inside him at all times. Until the Garden Festival, the dance with Quistis, and the knowledge that, no matter how hard he tried, he would never fit in. The deep, bitter regret that fueled the fight with Squall and his subsequent leavetaking. Leaving Fujin and Raijin behind, hoping that they would fare better than he did.

And then the talk with Bahamut, the knowledge of what he would have to do. The sort of resigned, half-terrified peace it brought him. and the regret--always regret as he had allowed Bahamut to transport him in the way of the GFs to Dyne's battlefield. Regret that he hadn't had more time--time to say things to his former friends and even former enemies, time to enjoy a bit more of the world.

_Seifer..._ Squall thought.

Time slowed.

_"Who is that?"_ came the reply, and if Squall had any idea where his physical body was he would have jumped.

_You can... hear me?_ He listened carefully.

_"Squall? It's... you?"_

_Yes._ Squall paused. _What is this?_

_"I don't know,"_ Seifer thought. _"You sound funny. Like you're inside my head, or something."_ A pause. _"Are you?"_

_I think so. Seifer..._ Squall faltered for a moment. _You're going to--_

_"Die? I know."_ Squall could have sworn he heard grim laughter. _"What does it matter? The world won't be losing anything important."_

_...yes, it will be._

_"It only sounds odd to hear that coming from you, Squall. Not reassuring."_

It took a moment for Squall to find his "voice" again. _I'm... I'm sorry._

_"Sorry? What have_ you _done to be sorry for?"_

_For... for not seeing that this was what you wanted to do. If I had known, I would have stopped it._

_"Would you?"_ There was a pained pause. _"Admit it, Squall. There isn't any room for me at Garden anymore. I've done to much for it to just be forgotten."_

_We could have learned to live with it. I did the same thing--_

_"But with you it was different. You never wanted to help Dyne. I went with the Sorceress by my own accord."_

_You were tricked. It wasn't your fault._

_"It was."_ Seifer seemed to take a breath. _"But this might pay you guys back a bit. I'm here to help you, whatever I have to do. Maybe some of you will finally learn to forgive me."_

_...I already have. I wish... I wish it could have turned out different, but..._

_"You're scaring me, Squall."_

_...sorry. I just have to say--_

_"Don't bother. I think I can guess the rest."_ Seifer seemed to straighten up. _"At least I know I'll be remembered."_

_Forever. ...I promise._

A laugh. _"Forever is a long time. You sure you're up for that?"_

Squall was silent.

_"At least I know I'm not alone,"_ Seifer said. _"I don't know if I could deal with this if I was."_ he sighed. _"I really am sorry. For everything I said to you, and everything I did to you. If I could take it all back, I would. I really would."_

_Don't worry about it._ Squall tried to put as much dismissal in the words as he could. _I think this will put all that behind us._

_"Then I think I'm ready. Squall, it's been a pleasure."_

_...I'll miss you._

_"And I guess that concession makes it all worthwile."_ Laughter again, this time real. _"Don't get too depressed, Squall. If you get much more serious you're going to kill yourself."_

_I won't._

_"Then I guess I'll be seeing you someday. Hopefully sometime far away. Don't do anything stupid and die on me, okay?"_

_...I won't._

_"Then I guess this is the end."_

_...most likely..._

Time hiccoughed, then resumed its stately progress. Vaguely, Squall could sense Seifer steeling himself. A burst of motion, a flash of pain--then there was nothing, as the power of the Crystal Pillar consumed him.

_"You have my profound apologies,"_ came a voice, and Squall looked around. As he had suspected, Quezacotl was hanging in the air just in front of him. Actually, "air" would have been too strong a word--he was in a black netherworld that rivaled in bleakness any Dyne could have created. _"We could have prevented this, but did not."_ A pause, and Quezacotl continued, regret in his words. _"It should never have come to pass."_

"Isn't it a bit late to apologize?" Squall asked dully.

_"My friend, my soul itself aches for the deaths of those two. But it may be that their sacrifice has saved us all."_

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

_"I doubt much could erase the pain inside of you, young human. But your kind die quickly. You do not have the longevity or the resiliance of the Guardians. For this, I am sad. You will come to know many deaths in your time."_

"What happened?"

_"We owe you much. Though others of my kind would not agree, it is mainly because of you that we are still here. You... and him."_

"What did you _do?_"

There was a gentle sense of amusement accompanying the voice when it responded. _"I thought it might ease your heart a bit if I brought you to be with him in his final moments. Alas, I could provide no such balm for Bahamut's passing, or I would have gone myself to be with him. Their sacrifice will long be remembered among the Guardians."_

"You say it could have been prevented." It was _almost_ an accusation.

_"We could have combated Dyne, killed him before our Bahamut and your Seifer were forced to. Our kind was... frightened by what we saw done to Naja. He was one of the greatest among us, and we were afraid. The corruption of a Guardian is not done lightly."_ There was a great sigh, more of a feeling than a sound, conveyed in Quezacotl's voice. _"Tiamat... was Bahamut's mate. Even now she sings her greif... both for herself and for him. It is ironic, as you humans would say, for we aspire to hold few such conceptions: Tiamat's corruption weakened him enough to force him to this drastic end, and Bahamut's death weakened her enough that she allowed herself to fall into corruption. The world works in mysterious ways, sometimes not even visible to us. Sometimes."_

"What would have happened? If Seifer was still alive?" Squall asked it hesitantly, not sure why he had thought to inquire--not sure that he wanted to know.

_"We owe you far more than words can express... Dyne was unique in the universe. Because of this, we shall show you."_

The world (such as it was) faded, and Squall found himself of a grassy, rolling hill. The sky was blue, for the most part--fluffy, white clouds glided across on the wind. He was aware of his friends--Quistis relaxing nearby, Selphie and Irvine on another hill staring at the sky, Zell laughing at something someone had said, even Rinoa sitting only a few meters away. Seifer was at the nearby Obel Lake, fishing line clenched in his hand. Fujin watched from a distance.

"That one's a dog," Selphie was saying. "Can't you see its little tail?"

Irvine chuckled. "Looks like a train to me."

"No, it's not. It's a litte puppy! Come on, don't you see it?"

"Well, who am I to contradict such a pretty girl?" Irvine asked, laughing. "Still, that is one _deformed_ dog."

Selphie sat up, punching him in the stomach.

"Oof!" he exclaimed. "What was that for?"

"C'_mon!"_ Selphe lay back down again. "Squall, what do you see?"

Squall glanced upward. "Clouds," he said, before staring across the horizon again.

Something hit him in the side of his face, and he clawed it off. Selphie had thrown a clump of grass at him. For a moment he considered throwing one back, but decided against it. It would only make her think that he wanted to play. He had had enough of that in the last two years.

_Two years? I've only really known her for one..._

_"Not in this time, my friend. Be silent, and watch."_ The voice of Quezacotl was peaceful. Squall shut up.

_A year since Dyne..._ Squall stared at the vague image of Timber in the distance. _What happened to him, anyway? Did the GFs kill him?_ He shook his head. How could he know? The GFs hadn't talked after it was done. They had gone back to being the cold, enigmatic entities they always had been. All he could remember of the day a year ago was Dyne, pulling Naja to the Crystal Pillar... and a bright, blinding light...

_Maybe he's still alive out there somewhere, _Squall thought. _Waiting and watching. Plotting his revenge..._

Claws dug into his leg, and something hard scratched his face. The breath was driven out of his lungs as something rammed into his chest. Startled into action, he jumped upwards, ready to combat any force that assailed him. He grabbed at whatever was attacking him--

--and found himself holding Boko by the ankle. Beside him, Angelo was barking loudly enough to frighten an army. _I'm still jumping at shadows,_ he thought, resigned. _I had better let the bird go or it'll be one of Selphie's infamous 'cruelty to animals' speeches._ Dropping Boko unceremoniously to the ground, he watched as the half-grown chocobo ran off with Angelo in close pursuit.

"I got one!" Seifer yelled, and everyone turned to look. Seifer was struggling with the fishing line, pulling it upwards with all his strength. "God _damn_, it's a big one, too..."

Suddenly there was a jerk on the line and, with a noise of dismay, Selfer tumbled into the lake. Everyone got up at once, concern written plainly in most of their faces.

A hand gripped the clifflet above the water, and Seifer pulled himself up, gasping for air. Beside him Raijin, face a mask of amusement, began hauling himself up onto the shore.

"Ya caught me, ya know?" he asked jovially. Seifer shot him an irate glare before pulling himself completely onto land and pulling off his trenchcoat to dry in the sun. Almost everyone laughed, but three faces showed almost nothing--Seifer was cursing silently as Raijin, though the ghost of a smile could be seen creeping onto his lips, Fujin's eyebrow raised the tiniest bit for the tiniest moment, and Squall only allowed the faintest smile to show in his expression before masking it. _Old habits die hard_, he noted.

"When did you learn to swim?" Seifer demanded.

"Fujin taught me, ya know?" Raijin explained. Seifer stared at Fujin, whose eyebrow jumped again. Other than that, however, she did nothing.

_Some days really aren't that bad,_ Squall thought, turning back to the horizon. _They really aren't..._

"Stop it," Squall demanded of Quezacotl. _Is this what I destroyed? ...I can't stand it anymore._

_"I am truly sorry,"_ Quezacotl said again as the scene faded. _"So much was in your grasp. Perhaps it is enough that you have experienced this. But... for my own concience--or what passes for one in the Guardians--I would like to do something for you. I sense many questions within you. Would you let me answer them?"_

Squall nodded. "Yes."

_"Then ask."_

Squall thought for a moment. "Why?" he finally said.

_"That could mean many things, young human,"_ Quezacotl said with something that sounded like fondness in his voice. _"But I think I sense your meaning.  
"Why? Dyne was afraid, that is why he wished this on the world. Perhaps the human called Lammers did not consider him an entity worthy of respect, and so treated him as only a laboratory animal. Perhaps he did not know--or did not want to know--the pain he inflicted. Whatever the cause, this treatment wounded Dyne greatly--enough so that he never recovered. He sought simply to protect himself in the only way he knew how. At once, this made him both victim and villain."_ The voice stopped for a moment, as if Quezacotl was considering something. _"Lammers' cruelty drove him to this end, but, even so, the choice to go to these extremes was entirely Dyne's. Where lies the blame?"_

Squall had no answer.

_"There are many other things you do not understand,"_ Quezacotl encouraged gently. _"Ask, and I'll answer if I can."_

"What about the kidnappings? What was their purpose?"

_"Dyne saw the threat you would be, and wanted to protect himself from you. To lure you into his clutches, he targeted those around you. He was afraid of you, just as he was afraid of everyone who could have defeated him. Just as he was afraid of Naja."_

"And the Shumis?"

_"There are some that still live, but not many. And they are few and far apart, having fled to the far corners of the earth to escape Dyne. The one you knew of as Guard was the first to fall before Dyne. He was captured and given the sphere in order to keep his mind under Dyne's control. The sphere was like a jacket--he could not put it down. The only difference was that Dyne controlled Guard, not trusting Naja to. Naja could easily have loosed his control enough for Guard to drop the sphere without Dyne noticing. Taking off a jacket was much more conspicuous, but the jackets would only work with human physiology."_ A vauge, reproachful tone crept into Quezacotl's voice. _"Did you think the Shumis uncorruptable? Have you forgotten the one called NORG already?"_

"I... guess I did." Squall was silent for a moment. "And my friends?"

_"The one you know as Quistis ordered the retreat when she saw you were losing. It was a wise thing to do, otherwise many more would have died. Your friends are safe."_

"Ellone. I heard she couldn't connect anymore."

_"Dyne took her power when he tried to capture her. It allowed him to see into the past, to know his opponents. With Dyne's death, the balance has been set right. The human you call Ellone has her power again."_

He hesitated. It hardly seemed a fitting time to ask favors, but... "...it's about our memories," he said.

Quezacotl sighed. _"Yes, I know of your problem. Of all your mind, this is the region we may reside in most easily. We are... grieved to see the result. We did not wish to take anything so... valuable from you."_

"Can it be prevented?"

_"Young one, it would take much effort to make our homes in differing regions of your mind. However, in the name of your Seifer and our Bahamut, I think we may undertake this. We owe you much."_

_You say that a lot. Does it really change anything?_

About a thousand questions ran through Squall's mind, but he ignored them all. "I guess that's all I wanted to know."

_"There is one last thing, my friend,"_ Quezacotl said, a mixture of concern, compassion and pity flavoring his tone. _"One final choice you have to make."_

"What?" _I don't need any more choices..._

The GF sighed. _"When the Pillar fell, all the energy inside it was released at once. Your friends were safe, having retreated far enough from it to be unharmed. But you caught the full brunt of it. Your mind--your soul could not withstand it. Even now, you are in the Infirmary of your Garden, dying."_ The voice paused for a moment. _"There are Forces I could entreat to intervene, in the name of the service you have granted us. Forces that could step between you and death, should you so wish it. The choice is yours. No one can make it for you."_

Squall paused.

_So much pain... so much to deal with. Do I really want to go back? Seifer wasn't given the same choice. Why do I deserve it?_

_I'm tired._ He realized that, more than anything else, he was tired. He wanted to sleep for about a month. Or longer. He didn't want to deal with any of the stuff he would have to as the Commander of Balamb Garden. He didn't want to deal with any of the stuff he would have to as Squall Leonhart. At that moment, he really couldn't see himself caring if he ever woke up.

He could sense Quezacotl waiting. He was certain that the GF wanted him to accept, maybe even expected him to. So what? _I don't want to live up to anyone else's expectations anymore._

_'Life and death, honor and discrace, victory and defeat. Each of these go hand in hand. There's only one way or the other...'_ Squall stopped. _I've been disgraced before. Been defeated before. I can see which way I'm tending. I... I can't take it. How much can one human stand before they go insane?_

_Why am I rationalizing this? I... I want to die. How could anyone rationalize something like that?_

_There've been times when I would have gladly accepted death. The D-District prison. Time Compression. I was willing to die then. Why should it have changed? If anything, I have less reason to go back now. I lost... something I don't even understand. And he didn't get the same choice._

"I'm ready to--"

--something stopped him. _No. I can't die, not just yet, _he thought._ I promised Seifer. And... they're all probably waiting for me. Rinoa. And Quistis, Zell, Selphie, Irvine... Nida... Xu... they're all probably waiting for me to wake up. I can't just give up on life. Maybe... maybe something will make this worth it._

"I'm... ready to live again," he amended.

_"My young, human friend. I would have been greived if you had said otherwise. It will not be easy, however,"_ Quezacotl said, compassion flooding his tone. _"You have lost the one person perhaps in all the world who could have understood you enough to become a true friend, a close comrade. But I admire your decision."_ A sigh. _"There are long roads ahead, and difficult choices. Some you may have to face alone. But you have shown yourself able to walk the paths, to choose between fates. And should you ever find yourself alone, call on me. I shall be waiting.  
"I am honored, young human, to have aided you."_

Quezacotl's voice fell away, and Squall tried to shut his mind off from the world. _Was it the right descision?_ he wondered, then pushed the matter out of his mind. _Well, I've made it now. Regardless of what it means, I can't go back on my word._

Almost as if he was falling asleep, his thoughts faded. Silently, he allowed himself to drift off. There were many things to be done in the Garden--families of dead SeeDs notified, the dead themselves buried, things to be done about the remnants of Dyne's army... but he would deal with those conflicts when he came to them. For now only relax, trust Quezacotl, and snatch a rare moment of peace in oblivion.


	39. Resolution

EPILOGUE  
_ "Oh, breathe not his name! Let it  
Sleep in the shade,  
__Where cold and unhonored his relics are laid."  
--Thomas Moore_

* * *

"I was wrong." 

Quistis looked up at Zell dully, hands still shaking. She would be having nightmares of that battle for a very long time...

"What?" she asked, staring at the other SeeD. He was staring at the floor as if asking for forgiveness.

"About... about Seifer. God, I... I always thought he was such an asshole. But he... he saved us all, didn't he?"

Quistis lowered her head again. "Yes," she said faintly. "I think he did."

_'I have seen some troubled children, but he was beyond troubled...'_

From across the balcony Irvine raised his head as if he was about to speak, then thought better of it. Selphie, by his side, was as silent as they had ever seen her. Rinoa sat, huddled in a corner with her arms around her knees, face hidden by the long strands of hair that fell down on either side of it. She was shaking.

Two shadows fell across the entrance, and Quistis glanced up halfheartedly to see Fujin and Raijin standing in the doorway. Each had expressions as cold as stone.

"Nothing," Raijin said softly, shaking his head. Quistis sighed.

"Nothing," she repeated to herself.

Fujin spoke in a soft, almost-silent voice that was entirely unlike her customary snap. "Hurt, inside," she said.

Quistis nodded. "I'm... I can't say how sorry I am--"

"No," Fujin stressed. "_Him_."

Quistis looked out at where she was pointing, following the line of her arm into the darkness outside. There, barely distinguishable from the grey of the mountains, was a black-clad form on one of the ledges. Beside him the smaller hump of a gravestone rose from the ground.

"Poor kid," Irvine said, ignoring the fact that he was actually younger than Squall himself was. "I guess I never knew he felt that strongly."

"I didn't either," Quistis said. "I don't think any of us could have."

"No one expected any of this... y'know?" Raijin asked sadly, looking at Quistis. Quistis looked away.

_Squall, I'm sorry,_ she thought up at him. _I wouldn't have called the retreat if I had known. I would do anything... anything... I can't bear to see you like this. Not_ you. _Not you, of all people..._

As if in agreement, a muffled sob cut across the balcony. In a gesture of comfort that should have seemed misplaced, Fujin reached out and put a hand on Rinoa's shoulder.

"Cry, good," she whispered. "Squall... does not cry. He should. ...too hurt inside to speak..."

Quistis turned back to the figure up on the ledge. _I am so, so sorry,_ she thought. _If there's anything I can ever do to make it up to you..._

A flash of lightning cut the air, and moments later it was followed by a peal of thunder. Fat droplets of rain began to fall, gleaming silver in the Garden's ringlight.

The figure on the mountains didn't move as the rain increased to a torrent, then a downpour. He only stood there, staring down at the grave at his feet as if nothing could erase the loss inside his soul.

Laguna stepped off the transport, shouldering his pack. Kiros and Ward stood beside him, both looking up at the blue Garden and the dark mountains behind it. Rain, having traveled up from the Centra continent, doused the Balamb landscape liberally.

"You sure you want to do this?" Kiros said, crossing his arms.

Laguna nodded. "Yeah. I gotta." Ward grunted beside him, and Laguna shook his head. "I'll be fine," he said. "I can deal with him."

"We'll trust you. For now. Just don't come crawling back with bruised feelings."

"Don't worry about it," Laguna said. "It'll be fine."

Stepping towards the Garden, Laguna could hear the transport taking off behind him. Approaching the Garden, he was surprised to see someone outside it, waiting for--something. As he approached, he saw it was Nida.

"Hey!" Laguna called, and Nida looked up. Waving halfheartedly, Nida stood and moved towards the trio.

"Welcome back, guys," he said, his greeting as halfhearted as his motions. "I suppose you want rooms?"

"We could stay in Balamb, if it's inconvenient," Kiros said before Laguna could respond. Nida shook his head.

"Nah, it's all right. We have plenty of space." A peal of thunder sounded above them, and Nida glanced up. "What brings you guys all the way over here?"

"He wanted to see Squall," Kiros explained. Nida sighed, looking at the ground.

"Good luck."

"What do you mean?" Laguna asked. Nida glanced up, pointing towards the mountains.

"I mean no one's been able to get a word out of him since the funeral. He's been up there for hours, now."

"Funeral?" A stab of fear hit Laguna. Nida couldn't be making some sort of macabre joke... could he? "What funeral?"

Nida grimaced. "Don't worry, it wasn't his. No... he told us to bury Seifer up there. Apparently it was the site of some duel or something--he wasn't terribly clear. Thing is, he hasn't left the grave since we finished filling it in. Pretty much everyone's been up there, trying to get him to come down before he catches something. It hasn't worked." Nida's grimace deepened. "Everyone has been up there. And I mean _everyone_. Rinoa, Zell, Selphie, Quistis, Irvine, Fujin, Raijin, me, Xu, Kadowaki... you name it. Anyone who feels even marginally comfortable around him has tried to get him down. He just sort of stands there, saying nothing, doing nothing. It's almost like he's dead on his feet. And after his almost being dead on his back, I can't say it's much of an improvement."

"Maybe I should talk to him," Laguna offered.

"If you want to try your luck, go ahead."

Laguna turned to Kiros and Ward, scratching the back of his neck absently. "Uhm, why don't you guys go get rooms. I'll go up by myself."

Kiros and Ward nodded silently. "Right inside," Nida said.

Squall was standing exactly where Nida had said he would be, on a ledge in the mountains. The rain had plastered his hair to his head and was running off him in rivulets, but he didn't seem to notice. His thumbs were hooked in the pockets of his pants, and he stood as motionless as a statue. In front of him was a patch of newly-packed earth beginning to run in the rain, graced only by a simple grey headstone. It reminded Laguna inescapably of Raine's somehow; only with a tinge of shadow in the rock that was only accented by the rain and gloom. The Hyperion lay across the grave near the base of the headstone, rain running off its polished surface. A gleaming, silver-blue scale was set into the headstone, bearing a simple inscription. Silently, Laguna walked up next to Squall and read it.

SEIFER ALMASY  
------------------  
DIED AGE 19

"I never really knew the kid," Laguna said awkwardly. Squall said nothing. "I was a bit confused by him. I heard that he did all these terrible things to you, but then I heard he saved you, too. I didn't know what to think."

_Neither did I._ The tiniest shudder went through him, but aside from that there was no indication that he had heard. _He saved me a lot,_ Squall thought. _At Fisherman's Horizon. On the bridge. On the coast. At Fisherman's Horizon again, when I was in the jacket. And after the battle. If I hadn't promised him, I wouldn't have taken up Quezacotl's offer. And what does he get? I couldn't save him once._

"I heard what happened."

Squall almost said something, but didn't. _You can't imagine it unless you were there,_ he thought. _Whatever they told you, it doesn't do justice to it. Seifer made a conscious decision to give his life in place of mine. Why? Was he that tired of living? Or did he actually think I was worth more?_ Squall stared down at the grave, unable to tear his eyes away. _If Seifer had waited a second longer... been a meter farther away... I would be the one in that grave while he was lying in the infirmary. Not the other way around. Not this way. How can I ever stand to accept that? A second might as well be forever--for all the difference it made._

"So, that's it, then? No epitaph, or anything? Just, 'Seifer Almasy, died age nineteen?'"

_There aren't any words that would fit. He died before we could really understand him. Why? Is it Dyne's fault? Is it mine? Or was it just some stupid accident of fate? Life is unfair. You can't choose what happens around you. Bad things happen to good people. It's just like that. Maybe there is no reason._

Laguna shifted his weight nervously, making a squelching sound in the mud. "So you were his friend, huh?"

_I never really knew._ Laguna lapsed into silence beside him but Squall ignored his father. _Someone once said you should try to focus on the good memories you have of a person, instead of their death. But I don't have any good memories._

_Seifer... you've become only a memory._

"I... came to talk with you. But maybe this is a bad time."

Nothing.

Laguna sighed. Sounding a bit hurt and very resigned, he turned away. "Never mind. I guess I don't really have a right to intrude." With an ache in his heart, he started moving back towards the Garden. "I'll contact the transport and have them come back."

"Wait."

Laguna almost jumped. Turning, he saw that Squall hadn't moved. "What?" he asked.

Squall shuddered. _Like Quezacotl said. I lost the best friend I never knew I had. Do I... do I want to take the chance of losing a father, too?_ Sighing, he turned away from the grave to look at Laguna.

"I... I don't know if I'll ever be able to accept you," he said, and Laguna's face fell even further. "...but I guess I can try."

Laguna stood there for a moment, staring at Squall. "Then I guess that's all I can really ask," he said.

"It won't happen fast."

Laguna took a step closer, and clasped Squall against his chest. The SeeD didn't move, either to pull away or hug him back. "I know."

Silently, Squall waited as Laguna broke the embrace. Looking back at the Garden, he shook his head. "A lot has happened."

"Too much," Laguna agreed. "But... for now, maybe we should go inside? It's cold out here."

_In more ways than one._ Squall turned back to look at the grave. _I've never felt this way before._ "We tied." He sounded as if he was confessing.

"What?" Laguna was obviously confused.

"Our last duel. We tied. Neither of us won."

"Oh," Laguna said, deciding not to ask. Motioning to the Garden again, he shrugged. "Maybe we should be getting back?"

Squall nodded. _There's nothing up here but dirt and stones anyway. Seifer's body may be here, but Seifer isn't. It's just... another way to remember._ "Yeah."

Almost as an afterthought, Squall bent down and grabbed Seifer's gunblade. Turning, he walked in silence back towards the Garden. Laguna followed, saying nothing.

_As Squall stepped up to the door, Nida clapped a hand on his shoulder. With a silent, sympathetic look, he turned to go inside. Laguna walked in after him, rubbing his hands together to defeat the cold._

_Inside... inside, he had friends. Light, and life. They said pain shared was pain halved. All Squall knew was that he couldn't bear it alone--that part of him had died with Seifer._

_As morning broke there would be a memorial for those who had died, Seifer not the least among them. And a human service for Bahamut, which might be graced by GF's as well. They would be remembered. Squall had kept his promises. All of them._

_The thunderstorm would be gone by then, leaving the sky clear. The stars would be out tonight, and the moon would be full. The light would gleam off the mountains, transforming them into great, glowing sentinels seemingly not of this world. And the simple headstone would gleam brightest, all the light of the heavens glittering off the entirety of Bahamut's remains--that single, palm-sized scale._

_Squall paused on the threshold of the Garden, turning back to the ledge. For one, brief moment he seemed to hear a voice, calling his name, and see a faint silvery figure among the crags giving him a final salute._

_Then again, maybe it was only the wind._

**--The End--**


End file.
